Etymologically
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perform

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /pəˈfɔːm/, US /pɚˈfɔːrm/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English parfourmen, later performen,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman parfourmer, performer,[4][2][5] an alteration under the influence of Old French forme “form” of parfornir (“to do, carry out, finish, accomplish”),[4][2] from par- “completely”, from Latin per-, and fornir “to provide”.[4][2] Church Latin had a compound performāre “to form thoroughly”.[4] It is related to furnish, form and performance.[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To carry into effect, fulfil, discharge”: about 1300 in Etymonline and Barnhart;[4][2] the OED has “to carry through to completion” about 1374.[6]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English it had wider senses than now, including “to make, construct; to bring about”, and of dreams, “to come true”,[4][6] and to performen muche time was “to live long”.[4] The theatrical and musical senses, to act on a stage or play an instrument, are from about 1600.[4] Performance is from about 1500, at first in law.[2][7] Of machines and persons, “to function, work”, is a later use.[8][9] Johnson defined it as “to execute; to do; to discharge”.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – to carry out.[4][2]
  • c. 1374 – to complete.[6]
  • 1420 – to finish off, decorate.[6]
  • c. 1500 – performance.[2]
  • c. 1600 – to act or play before an audience.[4]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To begin and carry through to completion; to do.
  2. To fulfil a promise, duty or obligation.
  3. To present a play, music or other entertainment before an audience.
  4. To act a role or show a skill before an audience.
  5. To function or work in a given way: the car performs well.

Word family

  • performable
  • performer
  • performability
  • misperform
  • outperform
  • overperform
  • performatory
  • reperform

References

  1. ^ 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 d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.