different between confer vs announce

English

Etymology

From Early Modern English conferre, from Middle French conférer, from Old French conferer, from Latin c?nfer?. Compare Dutch confereren (“to confer”), German konferieren (“to confer”), Danish konferere (“to confer”), Swedish konferera (“to confer”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /k?n?f??/, [k?????f?]
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /k?n?f??/
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Verb

confer (third-person singular simple present confers, present participle conferring, simple past and past participle conferred)

1. (transitive) To grant as a possession; to bestow. [from 16th c.]

   The college has conferred an honorary degree upon the visiting Prime Minister.

   • 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes

     Nor shall I count in hainous to enjoy
     The public marks of honour and reward
     Conferr'd upon me […]

   • 2010, Andrew Rawnsley, The Observer, 7 Feb 2010:

     The special immunities that are conferred on MPs were framed with the essential purpose of allowing them to speak freely in parliament.
2. (intransitive) To talk together, to consult, discuss; to deliberate. [from 16th c.]

   They were in a huddle, conferring about something.

   • 1974, "A Traveler's Perils", Time, 25 Mar 1974:

     Local buttons popped when Henry Kissinger visited Little Rock last month to confer with Fulbright on the Middle East oil talks.

3. (obsolete) To compare. [16th–18th c.]
   • 1557 (book title):

     The Newe Testament ... Conferred diligently with the Greke, and best approued translations.

   • 1661, Robert Boyle, The Second Essay, of Unsucceeding Experiments

     If we confer these observations with others of the like nature, we may find cause to rectify the general opinion.

4. (obsolete, transitive) To bring together; to collect, gather. [16th–17th c.]
5. (obsolete) To contribute; to conduce. [16th–18th c.]
   • 1665, Joseph Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica

     The closeness and compactness of the parts resting together doth much confer to the strength of the union.

Synonyms

• (to grant, bestow, or contribute): afford

Derived terms

• conferment
• conferrable
• conferral
• agreement conferring jurisdiction

Related terms

• cf, cf.
• conference
• collate
• collation

Translations

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?kon.fer/, [?kõ?f?r]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?kon.fer/, [?k?nf?r]

Verb

c?nfer

1. second-person singular present active imperative of c?nfer?. Often abbreviated cf and used to mean "compare with".

English

Etymology

From Old French anoncier, from Latin ann?nti?re, from ad + n?nti? (“report, relate”), from n?ntius (“messenger, bearer of news”). See nuncio, and compare with annunciate.

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: ?-nouns', IPA^(key): /??na?ns/
• (UK) enPR: ?-nouns', IPA^(key): /??na?ns/; enPR: ?'nouns, IPA^(key): /?æ.na?ns/
• Rhymes: -a?ns

Verb

announce (third-person singular simple present announces, present participle announcing, simple past and past participle announced)

1. (transitive) to give public notice, especially for the first time; to make known
   • c. 1780 William Gilpin, Observations, Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty, Made in the Year 1776, on Several Parts of Great Britain

     Her [Queen Elizabeth’s] arrival was announced through the country by a peal of cannon from the ramparts.

   Synonyms: proclaim, publish, make known, herald, declare, promulgate

2. (transitive) to pronounce; to declare by judicial sentence
   • c. 1718, Matthew Prior, First Hymn of Callimachus

     Publish laws, announce / Or life or death.

   Synonyms: abjudicate, judge

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:announce

Derived terms

Translations

References

• announce in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.