Wiktionary

proffer

See also: Proffer and profer

English

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WOTD – 16 January 2020

Etymology

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The noun is derived from Middle English profre (“act of offering or presenting a gift; offer of something; challenge; sacrifice; act of petitioning or requesting; petition, request; proposal, suggestion; idea, thought; attempt, effort; appearance; (law) payment to the Exchequer by a sheriff or other officer of estimated revenue due to the monarch”) [and other forms],[1] and then:

The verb is derived from Late Middle English prouffer, prouffre, Middle English profren, profer, proffere (“to offer, propose; to deliver, hand over, present; to take up; to volunteer; to dedicate; to attempt, try; to risk; to challenge; to provide; to ask, invite; to proceed, start; to grant; to argue”) [and other forms],[3] from Anglo-Norman profrer, proferer, profferer, proffrir, propherer, proufrir, and Old French proferir, proffrir, profrir (“to offer, propose; to present; to volunteer”), variants of Anglo-Norman puroffrir and Middle French poroffrir, paroffrir, Old French poroffrir, paroffrir, porofrir, from por-, pur- (prefix meaning ‘to go through’ or having an intensifying effect) + offrir, ofrir (“to offer”) (modern French offrir (“to offer; to give as a gift; to open oneself up to (someone)”)).[4] Offrir is derived from Vulgar Latin *offerīre, from Latin offerre, present active infinitive of offerō (“to offer, present; to exhibit, show; to expose; to cause, inflict; to consecrate, dedicate; to sacrifice”) (from ob- (prefix meaning ‘against; towards’) + ferō (“to bear, carry; to support; to endure; to bring forth; to put in motion; to move forward”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”))).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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proffer (plural proffers)

  1. An offer made; something proposed for acceptance by another; a tender.
    Synonym: proposition
    • a. 1587, Philip Sidney, “The Fifth Booke”, in [Mary Sidney], editor, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia […] [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1593, →OCLC, folio 226, verso:
      [T]heir ovvn eies vvilbe perhaps more curious iudges, out of heareſay they may have builded many conceites, vvhich I can not perchaunce vvil not performe, then vvil vndeſerued repentance be a greater ſhame and iniurie vnto me, then their vndeſerued proffer, is honour.
    • 1828 May 15, [Walter Scott], chapter II, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series. […] (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume I, Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, →OCLC, page 50:
      Her lips, man, her lips! and that's a proffer I would not make to every one who crosses my threshold. But, by good St Valentine, (whose holiday will dawn to-morrow,) I am so glad to see thee in the bonny city of Perth again, that it would be hard to tell the thing I could refuse thee.
    • 1886, George Bernard Shaw, chapter XIII, in Cashel Byron’s Profession. […], London: The Modern Press, […], →OCLC, page 144:
      [H]ow, if you tell him this, will you make him understand that I say so as an act of justice, and not in the least as a proffer of affection?
    • 1980 August 2, Andrea F. Loewenstein, “Random Lust”, in Gay Community News, page 15:
      "Oh no," she refused demurely at their proffer of coffee. "I can't do that now. I-I — I don't know if Jo's told you our good news! Perhaps a glass of milk."
    • 2015 December 29, Carol Vaughn, “Atlantic Town Center Lawsuit Goes before a Judge”, in Delmarva Now‎[1], Salisbury, Md., archived from the original on 28 December 2019:
      He said a reversionary proffer – saying the property would revert to its prior zoning if certain benchmarks were not met by the developers – was brought up in a conceptual discussion in a pre-application meeting in May 2014 with the developers, but did not progress beyond that.
  2. (obsolete) An attempt, an essay.
    • 1577, Raphaell Holinshed, “Queene Marie”, in The Laste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume II, London: […] for Iohn Hunne, →OCLC, page 1725, column 2:
      [A]fter ſome reſiſtance with ſhotte and arrowes, and profer of onſet made by their horſemen, they were put to flight, [...]
    • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “III. Century. [Experiment in Consort Touching the Imitation of Sound.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, paragraph 236, page 64:
      It is a Thing ſtrange in Nature, when it is attentiuely conſidered, How Children and ſome Birds, learne to imitate Speech. [...] It is true, that it is done with time, and by little and little, and with many Eſſayes and Proffers: But all this diſchargeth not the VVonder.

Alternative forms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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proffer (third-person singular simple present proffers, present participle proffering, simple past and past participle proffered)

  1. (transitive, reflexive) To offer for acceptance; to propose to give; to make a tender of.
    to proffer friendship, a gift, or services
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To attempt or essay of one's own accord; to undertake or propose to undertake.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 423–426:
      [N]one among the choice and prime / Of thoſe Heav'n-warring Champions could be found / So hardie as to proffer or accept / Alone the dreadful voyage; [...]

Alternative forms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ “profre, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “proffer, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2007; “proffer, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “profren, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  4. ^ “proffer, v.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2007; “proffer, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Noun

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proffer m

  1. indefinite plural of proff
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