Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1400-1500
Language: Latin
Origin: conferre 'to bring together', from com- ( COM-) + ferre 'to carry'

confer

 verb
     
con‧fer past tense and past participle conferred, present participle conferring formal
1 [intransitive] to discuss something with other people, so that everyone can express their opinions and decide on something
confer with
Franklin leant over and conferred with his attorneys.
2

confer a title/degree/honour etc

to officially give someone a title etc, especially as a reward for something they have achieved
confer a title/degree/honour etc on/upon
An honorary degree was conferred on him by the University.
—conferment noun [uncountable and countable]
WORD FOCUS: give WORD FOCUS: give
put something in someone's hand: hand, pass
officially give something to someone: award, present, grant, confer, allocate
give something to people in a group: hand out, pass around, distribute
give to a charity: donate
give something to people after you die: leave, pass on, bequeath

➔ See also give
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary