Favor vs. Favour

Favor is a widely used word which can be spelled with or without the u. If you are confused about when to use which favor and what is the difference in the meanings of these both words, then you are not to be blamed. First of all you need to keep it in your mind that whichever favor you use, it is not wrong. Different spellings of favors are used in different areas but the meaning of favor is same all over the world.

Favor as Noun:

When someone approves, supports or like something or someone, they favor it. Most of the employers favor training. When someone over generously prefers something, they are favoring it. The boss shows favor to the pretty blond secretary. An act of kindness beyond what is due or usual is also called favor. I’m here to ask you a favor. Favor is also an inexpensive gift given to guests at a party.

Favor as Verb:

To show preference or approval of one thing (or person) over another. His dad favors his sister over him. To work to the advantage of something means favoring it. Natural selection has favored bats. Giving someone something that they desire is also known as a favor. The students favored the teacher with their views. She favored her grandmother with a smile. Favor is often used to describe one’s resembling features to a parent or close relative. Your daughter is so pretty, she favors you. Another meaning of favor as a verb is to treat a broken limb or bone with kindness and not put a lot of pressure on it.

You see that favor not only means what we think it means and have many different meanings that we are sure you did not know of before. The two alternate spellings of the word exist due to the boundaries present on our planet. There are some words whose spellings differ in American and British English and you must use the spellings according to your location. This distinction in the spellings were first noticed in Noah Webster’s dictionary for America in which he tried to get rid of the unnecessary letters from the words and keep the spellings according to the pronunciation. The British English and the English spoken and written in rest of the world has the original spellings of the words as they were derived from the root word, regardless of the pronunciation.

Favor:

If you live in United States of America, then you should use the shorter spellings of favor i.e. without the u. These spellings were suggested by Noah Webster, a famous lexicographer is relation to the demarcation of America from British.

Favour:

The Britishare known to be original English speakers and they use the spellings that were originally derived from the Latin or Old English. Favour is written with a u after the o, thus making it the longer spellings and a little different than how it is pronounced. So if you are an English person, you should use the longer spellings of the word in your writing.

All the derivatives of favor can be written with both of these alternate spellings like favorite/favourite, favoring/favouring, favored/favoured and favorable/favourable. So while choosing the spellings of favor for your piece you must consider your location as well as the location of your audiences who will be reading it and when you choose one spellings make sure you use the same ones in all the piece.

Did this article favored you in understanding the meanings and spelling differences of favor?