Adjacent Words

Predilection definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PREDILEC'TION, n. [L.proe, before, and dilectus, dilito, to love.]
A previous liking; a prepossession of mind in favor of something.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a predisposition in favor of something; "a predilection for expensive cars"; "his sexual preferences"; "showed a Marxist orientation" [syn: predilection, preference, orientation]
2: a strong liking; "my own preference is for good literature"; "the Irish have a penchant for blarney" [syn: preference, penchant, predilection, taste]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: French prédilection, from Medieval Latin praediligere to love more, prefer, from Latin prae- + diligere to love — more at diligent Date: 1742 an established preference for something Synonyms: predilection, prepossession, prejudice, bias mean an attitude of mind that predisposes one to favor something. predilection implies a strong liking deriving from one's temperament or experience <a predilection for travel>. prepossession suggests a fixed conception likely to preclude objective judgment of anything counter to it <a prepossession against technology>. prejudice usually implies an unfavorable prepossession and connotes a feeling rooted in suspicion, fear, or intolerance <a mindless prejudice against the unfamiliar>. bias implies an unreasoned and unfair distortion of judgment in favor of or against a person or thing <a strong bias toward the plaintiff>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (often foll. by for) a preference or special liking. Etymology: F prédilection ult. f. L praediligere praedilect- prefer (as PRAE-, diligere select): see DILIGENT

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Predilection Pre`di*lec"tion, n. [Pref. pre- + L. dilectus, p. p. diligere to prefer: cf. F. pr['e]dilection. See Diligent.] A previous liking; a prepossession of mind in favor of something; predisposition to choose or like; partiality. --Burke.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(predilections) If you have a predilection for something, you have a strong liking for it. (FORMAL) ...his predilection for fast cars and fast horses. = fondness N-COUNT: oft N for n/-ing

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Prepossession (in favor of), partiality, preference, inclination, bent, leaning, bias, predisposition, liking, fondness, love, desire.

Moby Thesaurus

a thing for, affinity, animus, aptitude, aptness, bag, bent, bias, cast, character, chosen kind, conatus, conduciveness, constitution, cup of tea, delight, diathesis, disposition, druthers, eagerness, eccentricity, fancy, fascination, favor, favoritism, feeling for, forejudgment, grain, idiosyncrasy, inclination, inclining, individualism, jaundice, jaundiced eye, kidney, leaning, liability, liking, make, makeup, mental set, mettle, mind, mind-set, mold, mutual affinity, mutual attraction, nature, one-sidedness, parti pris, partialism, partiality, particular choice, partisanship, penchant, personal choice, preapprehension, preconception, preconclusion, preconsideration, predecision, predetermination, predisposition, preference, prejudgment, prejudication, prejudice, premature judgment, prenotion, prepossession, presumption, presupposal, presupposition, presurmise, probability, proclivity, proneness, propensity, readiness, sensitivity to, set, slant, soft spot, stamp, strain, streak, stripe, style, susceptibility, sympathy, taste, temper, temperament, tendency, thing, tropism, turn, turn of mind, twist, type, undetachment, undispassionateness, warp, weakness, willingness