n. [ Cf. F. préférence. ]
Leave the critics on either side to contend about the preference due to this or that sort of poetry. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]
Knowledge of things alone gives a value to our reasonings, and preference of one man's knowledge over another's. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Giving, indicating, or having a preference or precedence;
. (Political Science) A system of voting, as at primaries, in which the voters are allowed to indicate on their ballots their preference (usually their first and second choices) between two or more candidates for an office, so that if no candidate receives a majority of first choices the one receiving the greatest number of first and second choices together in nominated or elected. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]