confer
pronunciation
How to pronounce confer in British English:
UK [kənˈfɜː(r)]
How to pronounce confer in American English:
US [kənˈfɜːr]
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- Verb:
- have a conference in order to talk something over
- present
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- Adverb:
- compare (used in texts to point the reader to another location in the text)
Word Origin
- confer (v.)
- 1530s, from Middle French conférer (14c.) "to give, converse, compare," from Latin conferre "to bring together," figuratively "to compare; consult, deliberate, talk over," from com- "together" (see com-) + ferre "to bear" (see infer). Sense of "taking counsel" led to conference. The meaning "compare" (common 1530-1650) is largely obsolete, but the abbreviation cf. still is used in this sense. Related: Conferred; conferring.
Example
- 1. These are the memories that confer your individuality .
- 2. But the point of shares is that they confer ownership .
- 3. He wanted to confer with his colleagues before reaching a decision .
- 4. Some muslim britons contract an islamic marriage ( but not acivil one ) and then fail to confer on the bride the marriage settlement that would be obligatory in say , pakistan .
- 5. Two studies of american firms by paul gompers , joy ishii and andrew metrick , covering the years from 1994 to 2002 , found that dual-class firms perform worse than comparable firms where all shares confer equal voting rights .