The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Preferment \Pre*fer"ment\, n.
   1. The act of choosing, or the state of being chosen;
      preference. [R.]
      [1913 Webster]

            Natural preferment of the one . . . before the
            other.                                --Sir T.
                                                  Browne.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The act of preferring, or advancing in dignity or office;
      the state of being advanced; promotion.
      [1913 Webster]

            Neither royal blandishments nor promises of valuable
            preferment had been spared.           --Macaulay.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. A position or office of honor or profit; as, the
      preferments of the church.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

preferment
    n 1: the act of preferring; "the preferment went to the younger
         candidate"
    2: the act of making accusations; "preferment of charges"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

65 Moby Thesaurus words for "preferment":
   Great Leap Forward, advance, advancement, aggrandizement,
   amelioration, amendment, apostolic orders, appointment, ascent,
   bettering, betterment, boost, calling, canonization, conferment,
   consecration, election, elevation, enhancement, ennoblement,
   enrichment, eugenics, euthenics, exaltation, furtherance,
   graduation, headway, holy orders, improvement, induction,
   installation, institution, investiture, knighting, lift,
   major orders, melioration, mend, mending, minor orders, nomination,
   ordainment, orders, ordination, passing, pay raise, pickup,
   preference, presentation, progress, progression, promotion, raise,
   reading in, recovery, restoration, revival, rise, upbeat,
   upgrading, uplift, upping, upswing, uptrend, upward mobility