Origin: Latin suffix -ence
Preference has 7 different meanings across 1 category:
a strong liking
"my own preference is for good literature"
"the Irish have a penchant for blarney"
a predisposition in favor of something
"a predilection for expensive cars"
"his sexual preferences"
"showed a Marxist orientation"
grant of favor or advantage to one over another (especially to a country or countries in matters of international trade, such as levying duties)
"The new tariff policy grants a significant preference to nations within the free-trade zone by exempting their goods from import duties."
The selection of one thing or person over others (with the main adposition being "for" in relation to the thing or person, but possibly also "of")
"While most players gather to play bridge, Uncle Vanya insists on hosting our weekly preference tournament instead."
Preferans, a card game, principally played in Eastern Europe.
In plain English: A preference is when you like one thing better than another.
"She expressed a strong preference for coffee over tea in the morning."
Usage: Use preference to mean a thing that someone likes better than others or a choice made on the basis of such liking. Do not use it to refer to the specific card game known as preferans.
To give preferential treatment to; to give a preference to.
"The manager's decision to promote Sarah was clearly driven by his strong preference for her over the other candidates, even though their experience levels were identical."
In plain English: To prefer something means to choose it over other options because you like it better.
"You should never force your preference on someone else."
Usage: Use the verb "prefer" instead of "preference," as "preference" is strictly a noun. When you want to express choosing one thing over another, say that you "prefer X to Y."
The word preference entered English from the Middle French term preferance, which itself came from Medieval Latin. It originally carried the sense of showing favor toward one option over another before becoming a standard noun in modern usage.