'Prefer' is Latin for 'carry before' — placing one thing ahead of others. Liking as spatial priority.
To like one thing better than another; to choose as more desirable; to put forward formally.
From Old French 'preferer' (to prefer, to set before), from Latin 'praeferre' (to carry before, to set before, to prefer, to favour), from 'prae-' (before, in front of) + 'ferre' (to bear, to carry). 'Ferre' derives from PIE *bher- (to carry, to bear, to give birth), which is one of the widest-attested PIE roots with reflexes across every branch: Latin 'ferre' (to carry), Greek 'pherein' (φέρειν, to carry), Sanskrit 'bharati' (he carries), Old English 'beran' (to bear, carry), German 'gebären' (to give birth), Russian 'brat' (to take). English descendants of this root through Latin alone include
In legal English, 'to prefer charges' means to bring them forward formally — preserving the original Latin sense of 'carrying before' (a court or authority). This legal usage, where 'prefer' means 'to put forward' rather than 'to like better,' is the older sense in English and the one closest to the Latin original.