different between seize vs prefer

English

Etymology

Earlier seise, from Middle English seisen, sesen, saisen, from Old French seisir (“to take possession of; invest (person, court)”), from Medieval Latin sac?re (“to lay claim to, appropriate”) (8th century) in the phrase ad propriam sacire, from Old Low Frankish *sakjan (“to sue, bring legal action”), from Proto-Germanic *sakjan?, *sak?n? (compare Old English sacian (“to strive, brawl”)), from Proto-Germanic *sakan? (compare Old Saxon sakan (“to accuse”), Old High German sahhan (“to bicker, quarrel, rebuke”), Old English sacan (“to quarrel, claim by law, accuse”). Cognate to sake and Latin sagio (“to perceive acutely”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: s?z, IPA^(key): /si?z/
• Homophones: seas, sees

Verb

seize (third-person singular simple present seizes, present participle seizing, simple past and past participle seized)

1. (transitive) To deliberately take hold of; to grab or capture.

   Synonyms: clasp, grasp, grip; see also Thesaurus:grasp

2. (transitive) To take advantage of (an opportunity or circumstance).

   Synonym: jump on

3. (transitive) To take possession of (by force, law etc.).

   Synonyms: arrogate, commandeer, confiscate

4. (transitive) To have a sudden and powerful effect upon.
   • 2010, Antonio Saggio, A Secret van Gogh: His Motif and Motives, ?ISBN, 11:

     This sensation of an object becoming alive is a characteristic that, I believe, seizes all viewers of a van Gogh. The Bible goes beyond being a simple still-life object to become a living thing, an expression of strength, an existence that emanates from itself, beyond the painting surface to participate in our very lives.

5. (transitive, nautical) To bind, lash or make fast, with several turns of small rope, cord, or small line.

6. (transitive, obsolete) To fasten, fix.
7. (intransitive) To lay hold in seizure, by hands or claws (+ on or upon).

8. (intransitive) To have a seizure.
9. (intransitive) To bind or lock in position immovably; see also seize up.
   • 2012, Martha Holmberg, Modern Sauces: More Than 150 Recipes for Every Cook, Every Day (page 235)

     Chocolate seizes if a small amount of water (or watery liquid such as brandy) finds its way into the chocolate while it is melting. […] If chocolate seizes, it will look grainy and matte rather than glossy and smooth.

10. (Britain, intransitive) To submit for consideration to a deliberative body.
11. (law) (with of) To cause (an action or matter) to be or remain before (a certain judge or court).

    This Court will remain seized of this matter.

Derived terms

Related terms

• seizure

Translations

References

• seize in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• “seize”, in OED Online ?, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000

French

Etymology

From Middle French seze, from Old French seize, seze, from Latin s?decim.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?z/
• (Quebec) IPA^(key): [saiz]
• Rhymes: -?z

Numeral

seize

1. sixteen

Derived terms

• seizième

Related terms

• six
• dix

Further reading

• “seize” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Norman

Etymology

From Old French seize, from Latin s?decim.

Pronunciation

Numeral

seize

1. (Jersey, Guernsey) sixteen

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