Etymologically
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per

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /pɜː/ (strong), /pə/ (weak); US /pɝː/, /pɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin per (“through, during, by means of, on account of”),[2][3][4] partly through Old French per, whose modern form is French par.[5][6][7] It comes from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“forward, through, across”),[2][8][9] which also gave Ancient Greek περί (perí, “around, about, beyond”), Lithuanian per (“through”), and through Germanic the English prefix for- and the word far.[9] Latin per is related to English for.[3][10][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Through, by means of”: 1588,[3] although Latin phrases with per had been used in English since the 15th century.[11][7]

Semantic evolution

Before it was an English preposition, per came in through Latin and French phrases:[2] Latin ones such as per diem (1520), per se (1572), per annum (1601), per capita and per stirpes (both 1682),[3] and Old French ones fused into peradventure, perforce and perhaps.[11] In heraldry per means “in the direction of”, as in party per pale.[11][7] The distributive sense “for each” is first recorded in 1598.[3] The sense “according to, as shown by” (per invoice) is commercial, and gave the jocular as per usual.[11] The adverbial use “apiece, for each one” dates from 1899.[10]

Timeline

  • 15th century – in Latin phrases.[11]
  • 1520 – per diem.[3]
  • 1572 – per se.[3]
  • 1588 – preposition, by means of.[3]
  • 1598 – for each.[3]
  • 1601 – per annum.[3]
  • 1682 – per capita.[3]
  • 1899 – adverb, apiece.[10]

Modern meaning

Preposition

  1. For each; for every: sixty miles per hour.
  2. According to: per your instructions.
  3. By means of; through.

Adverb

  1. For each one; apiece.

Word family

  • perhaps
  • pay-per-view
  • per annum
  • per capita
  • per centum
  • per-
  • perfect
  • perfection
  • perplex
  • percent
  • peradventure
  • perforce
  • for
  • far
  • peri-

Usage notes

RHWU and the AHD agree that per meaning “for each” belongs in technical, statistical and sports contexts and in stating ratios.[4][12] The sense “according to” is criticized in business writing by some,[4] and the AHD advises keeping it to business and legal writing unless a jocular formality is intended.[12] The Cambridge pronouncing dictionary notes that per is almost always weak in per cent and per annum but usually strong in per head and per capita.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  5. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  10. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  11. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  12. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin