different between prefer vs consume

English

Alternative forms

• præfer [16th-17th c.]
• preferre [14th-17th c.]

Etymology

From Middle English preferren, from Anglo-Norman preferer and Old French preferer, from Latin praefer?, praeferre. Displaced native Middle English foresettan and foreberan.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /p???f?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p???f??/
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Verb

prefer (third-person singular simple present prefers, present participle preferring, simple past and past participle preferred)

1. (transitive) To be in the habit of choosing something rather than something else; to favor; to like better. [from 14^thc.]

   I'd prefer it if you didn't do it.

   • "My tastes," he said, still smiling, "incline me to the garishly sunlit side of this planet." And, to tease her and arouse her to combat: "I prefer a farandole to a nocturne; I'd rather have a painting than an etching; Mr. Whistler bores me with his monochromatic mud; I don't like dull colours, dull sounds, dull intellects; […]."
2. (transitive, now dated) To advance, promote (someone or something). [from 14^thc.]
   • 1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, p. 67,^[1]

     […] she was one of my Master’s Captives. For this Reason, I presume, it was, that she took so much Compassion upon me; considering herself a Slave in a strange Country, and only preferr’d to my Master’s Bed by Courtesy.

3. (transitive) To present or submit (something) to an authority (now usually in "to prefer charges"). [from 16^thc.]
   • 1803, Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons, London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, Letter 5, p. 137,^[2]

     At length the Maroons, who were delighted to have him with them, became discontented with his absence, and for several years, during the sessions of the House of Assembly, preferred repeated complaints against him.

4. (obsolete, transitive) To put forward for acceptance; to introduce, recommend (to). [16^th-19^thc.]
   • 1630, John Smith, The True Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captaine Iohn Smith, London: Thomas Slater, Chapter 1, p. 2,^[3]

     one Master David Hume, who making some use of his purse, gave him Letters to his friends in Scotland to preferre him to King Iames.

   • 1817, Walter Scott, Rob Roy, Volume One, Chapter 17,^[4]

     Such were the arguments which my will boldly preferred to my conscience, as coin which ought to be current, and which conscience, like a grumbling shopkeeper, was contented to accept […].

Usage notes

• The verb can be used in three different forms:
  1. prefer + noun + to (or over) + noun. Example: I prefer coffee to tea.
  2. prefer + gerund + to (or over) + gerund. Example: I prefer skiing to swimming.
  3. prefer + full infinitive + rather than + bare infinitive. Example: I prefer to die honorably rather than live in shame. If the second verb is the same as the first, it can be elided: I prefer to eat fish rather than meat.

Inflection

Synonyms

• forechoose

Antonyms

• disprefer

Related terms

• nonpreferred
• preferable / preferrable
• preference
• preferendum
• preferential
• preferer / preferrer
• preferment
• preferred creditor, preferred provider, preferred stock, preferred stockholder
• unpreferred
• prelate

Translations

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pre?fer]

Verb

prefer

1. first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of prefera

English

Etymology

From Old French consumer, from Latin c?ns?mere.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, UK, General Australian) IPA^(key): /k?n?sju?m/
• (UK, General Australian) IPA^(key): /k?n??u?m/
• (US) enPR: k?n-so?om, IPA^(key): /k?n?sum/

Verb

consume (third-person singular simple present consumes, present participle consuming, simple past and past participle consumed)

1. (transitive) To use up.

   The power plant consumes 30 tons of coal per hour.

2. (transitive) To eat.

   Baby birds consume their own weight in food each day.

3. (transitive) To completely occupy the thoughts or attention of.

   Desire consumed him.

4. (transitive) To destroy completely.

   The building was consumed by fire.
5. (intransitive, obsolete) To waste away slowly.
   • 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, Letter 441:

     But, sir, you see how weak I am. You must see that I have been consuming from day to day […] .

   • 1899, Kate Chopin, The Awakening:

     He assured her the child was consuming at that moment in the next room.

6. (economics, transitive, intransitive) To trade money for good or services as an individual.

   In a materialistic society, individuals are taught to consume, consume, consume.

   If you consume this product while in Japan, you may be subject to consumption tax.

7. (transitive) To absorb information, especially through the mass media.

   The Internet has changed the way we consume news.

Synonyms

• (use): burn (of energy), use, use up
• (eat): devour, eat, swallow
• (occupy): occupy, overcome, take over
• (destroy): annihilate, destroy, devastate, eliminate, obliterate, raze (of a building), wipe out

Derived terms

• consumer

Related terms

• consumption
• consumptive

Translations

Anagrams

• Mounces, comunes, muscone

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??.sym/

Verb

consume

1. first-person singular present indicative of consumer
2. third-person singular present indicative of consumer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of consumer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of consumer
5. second-person singular imperative of consumer

Anagrams

• écumons

Galician

Verb

consume

1. second-person singular imperative of consumir

Latin

Verb

c?ns?me

1. second-person singular present active imperative of c?ns?m?

Portuguese

Verb

consume

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of consumar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of consumar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of consumar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of consumar

Spanish

Verb

consume

1. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of consumir.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of consumir.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present indicative form of consumir.

Verb

consume

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of consumar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of consumar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of consumar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of consumar.