preferablyadv.
/ˈprɛf(ə)rəbli/, U.S. /ˈprɛf(ə)rəbli/, /ˈprɛfərbli/ 1.
a. In a preferable manner; in preference. Frequently with to. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > types of choice > [adverb] > in preference to something else
ratherc1300
heldera1400
tittera1400
ererc1425
soon1457
rathest1556
would rather1557
first1580
preferablya1645
choosingly1651
preferable1683
ruther1809
a1645 W. Browne tr. M. Le Roy Hist. Polexander (1647) i. iv. 103 I was engaged to serve Quasmez preferrably [Fr. preferablement] before all others.
1663 J. D. tr. H. de Péréfixe de Beaumont Hist. Henry IV iii. 370 The Duke of Saxony, descended from an Elder Daughter of Duke John Grand-father of Duke William, said likewise that it preferably appertained to him.
1683 London Jilt: 2nd Pt. sig. A4 He did not seem to be very much disquieted upon this account, provided he might have preferably before any other, his Elbow-room with me.
1729 Bp. J. Butler 15 Serm. (ed. 2) 508 Obligations, which require that we do good to some preferably to others.
1750 Bible (Challoner) Baruch iii. 30 Who hath passed over the sea, and found her, and brought her preferably to chosen gold?
1761 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy III. viii. 24 Obadiah loved wind musick preferably to all the instrumental musick he carried with him.
1803 M. Charlton Wife & Mistress (ed. 2) I. 67 That I may be preferably allowed to retain the guardianship of her person.
1901 E. Step Shell Life xvi. 289 In deeper water it will be found to preferably affect the Sea-firs (Sertularia and Plumularia).
1995 Jrnl. Industr. Econ. (Nexis) Dec. 341 While imports only allow the transfer of products and hence might especially affect product innovative activity, FDI also allows for the transfer of production technology which might preferably affect domestic firms' process innovative activity.
b. By preference; ideally; if possible. Frequently as a sentence adverb.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > types of choice > [adverb] > in preference to something else > by preference
preferably1852
preferentially1858
1852 N. Hawthorne Blithedale Romance vi. 54 She should have made it a point of duty, moreover, to sit endlessly to painters and sculptors, and preferably to the latter.
1853 Times 19 Nov. 3/1 (advt.) Furnished apartments wanted... Preferably in the city, without other lodgers or children.
1873 E. Spon Workshop Receipts 1st Ser. 132/2 For filling the cases nipples of various sizes are employed, made preferably of metal.
1915 V. Woolf Voy. Out xxiv. 393 If only people with brains—of course they would want a room, a nice room, in Bloomsbury preferably, where they could meet once a week.
1953 A. Hosain Phoenix Fled 129 Always she went out in a curtained carriage or walked ghostlike behind her escort in her veiling ‘burqa’, preferably after dark.
1990 Sports Illustr. 10 Sept. 41/2 The new owners..wanted somebody younger and more corporate, a bottom-line guy, a lawyer, preferably.
ΚΠ
1782 F. Burney Cecilia III. vi. xi. 358 Even Mrs. Delvile evidently desired her absence, since..she preferably addressed herself to any one else who was present.
1818 H. T. Colebrooke On Import Colonial Corn x. 179 A generous policy, which has preferably consulted the advantage of the dependent country.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.a1645