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Glite Dictionary
preferment

preferment

1 8.5
A promotion to a more important job
  • noun
  • /prɪˈfɜrmənt/
  • Archaic
translation icon : preferencia
  • I'm confident, Ned, that my youth excludes me from any hopes of immediate preferment, nor do I desire it, but I mean to prepare the way for futurity.

Examples

  • There must have been something about her demeanor that elicited tenured preferment at both Chicago and Harvard, despite the thinness of her published views.

    Blog text (7)

  • On both sides of the Atlantic, there is ample evidence, historically and currently, of how prone to abuse this venerable system of academic preferment has become.

    Academic text (2002)

  • I wish the Ministry did, and then I might have a better chance at preferment.

    Academic text (2016)

  • I understand there is some concern over my desires on preferment.

    Victoria & Abdul (2017)

  • Journalism in New Zealand in the last century clearly was a more reliable route to political preferment than the press trade in America.

    Academic text (1999)

  • Since successive Speakers looked to the king for their future preferment, they invariably put his interests first.

    Academic text (2011)

  • It is a question of professional choice, not caprice or political preferment.

    Academic text (1990)

  • He saw, even in his time, that natural talents were ignored, while preferment went to people who excelled on examinations.

    Academic text (1992)

  • Beyond the work of his father, Young had many opportunities to witness the cultural circulation of the New Science and other Enlightenment discourses and their impact on Church practices, including preferment.

    Academic text (2016)

  • After years of hard work, she finally received preferment to a managerial position, which she had long desired.

Synonyms

promotion
vspreferment
235 2.6

Giving someone a higher job at work

is used when the act gives an advantage especially for important jobs
higher rank
vspreferment
6 3.9

A position with more authority and status than others in a group

refers to the act of giving such a superior position or advantage
ennoblement
vspreferment
  • Formal
9.2

Giving a person a noble title or making them morally better

is about giving job advantage rather than raising social rank

Antonyms

demotion
11 3.9

A move of someone to a lower job rank at work

How Senior

preferment
  • Archaic
1 8.5
promotion
235 2.6
advancement
119 4.1

Surface Forms

preferment singular
preferments plural

Morphology

preferment = prefer (semi-transparent) = prefer + ment

Formally 'prefer' + '-ment' is clear, but the sense 'promotion' is specialized/archaic and not directly inferable from the common meaning 'to like or choose'.

Etymology

Preferment comes from old Latin parts pre- meaning 'before' and fer meaning 'to carry', and it is the same root behind prefer and preference. So a preferment is being 'moved forward' or put ahead of others, which is why it means a promotion or a higher position.