confer

[ kuhn-fur ]

See synonyms for: confer conferred conferring confers on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object),con·ferred, con·fer·ring.

to consult together; compare opinions; carry on a discussion or deliberation.

verb (used with object),con·ferred, con·fer·ring.

to bestow upon as a gift, favor, honor, etc.: to confer a degree on a graduate.
Obsolete. to compare.

Origin of confer

First recorded in 1400–50 for earlier sense “to summon”; 1520–30 for current senses; late Middle English conferen, from Latin conferre “to bring together, compare, consult with,” equivalent to con- “with, together, completely” (see con-) + ferre “to carry, bear” (see bear¹)

synonym study For confer

1. See consult. 2. See give.

Other words from confer

con·fer·ment, noun
con·fer·ra·ble, adjective
con·fer·rer, noun
non·con·fer·ra·ble, adjective
pre·con·fer, verb (used without object), pre·con·ferred, pre·con·fer·ring.
re·con·fer, verb, re·con·ferred, re·con·fer·ring.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use confer in a sentence

The more cases we have in circulation, the more chances there are of generating mutations that confer some kind of benefit to the virus.
India's Vaccine Rollout Stumbles as COVID-19 Cases Decline. That's Bad News for the Rest of the World | Abhishyant Kidangoor | February 19, 2021 | Time
"Not from men" excludes human derivation; "not through man," human intervention in the conferment of Paul's office.
The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Galatians | G. G. Findlay
But Athanasius apprehended this redemption as a conferment, from without and from above, of a divine nature.
Edward Caldwell Moore | Edward Moore
Sulla obtained the formal conferment on himself of absolute power.
The World's Greatest Books, Vol XI. | Edited by Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton
Let there be no confusion about the purpose of the suggested conferment of power to make decisions effective.
State of the Union Addresses of Warren Harding | Warren Harding

The preliminaries, formal or otherwise, to the conferment of degrees have now been described.
The Oxford Degree Ceremony | Joseph Wells

British Dictionary definitions for confer

confer

/ (kənˈfɜː) /

verb-fers, -ferring or -ferred

(tr; foll by on or upon) to grant or bestow (an honour, gift, etc)
(intr) to hold or take part in a conference or consult together

(tr) an obsolete word for compare

Origin of confer

C16: from Latin conferre to gather together, compare, from com- together + ferre to bring

Derived forms of confer

conferment or conferral, noun
conferrable, adjective
conferrer, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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