Word of the Day

: August 24, 2009

proffer

verb PRAH-fer

What It Means

: to present for acceptance : tender, offer

proffer in Context

Several recommendations were proffered by the financial board on how to reduce the city's debt without making drastic cuts in department budgets.

Did You Know?

You may notice a striking similarity between "proffer" and "offer." Are the two words connected by etymology? Yes, indeed. "Proffer" comes from Anglo-French "profrer," which itself is an alteration of the earlier "porofrir." That word in turn combines "por-" (which means "forth" and is related to our "pro-") and "offrir" (which means "to offer" and is an ancestor of our word "offer"). "Proffer" entered English in the 14th century. A more literary word than plain "offer," it adds or puts stress on the idea of voluntariness, spontaneity, or courtesy on the part of the one doing the tendering.