performance

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /pəˈfɔː.məns/, US /pɚˈfɔːr.məns/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English perform + -ance,^[2][3] and Hoad suggests it may come from an Anglo-Norman *performance.^[4] The verb perform is inherited from Middle English parfourmen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman parfourmer, an alteration, after Old French forme (“form”), of parfornir (“to do, carry out, finish”),^[2][3] from par- (“completely”) and fornir (“to provide”), the source of furnish.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Accomplishment, the carrying out of something: 1494,^[6] or the late 15th century.^[2][3] Hoad notes that it was at first a legal word.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The carrying out of a command, duty or promise is from 1531.^[6] Something performed, a deed, is from 1599^[6] or the 1590s.^[2] The capability of a machine, and how well something works, is from 1598.^[7] The performing of a play, part or piece of music is from about 1611^[6] or the 1610s,^[2] and a public entertainment from 1709.^[2] The earlier Middle English noun was performing, from the late 14th century.^[2] In psychology performance is measurable behaviour, from 1898, and in linguistics it is contrasted with competence from 1963.^[6] Performance art is from 1971.^[2]

Timeline

• 1494 – accomplishment.^[6]
• 1531 – the carrying out of a duty.^[6]
• 1598 – how well something functions.^[7]
• c. 1611 – the performing of a play.^[6]
• 1709 – a public entertainment.^[2]
• 1898 – in psychology.^[6]
• 1963 – in linguistics.^[6]
• 1971 – performance art.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act of performing, or the state of being performed.
2. The act or style of performing a work or role before an audience.
3. A presentation, especially a theatrical one, before an audience.
4. The way in which someone or something functions: the car's performance.
5. Something performed; an accomplishment.
6. (linguistics) The actual use of language, as opposed to competence.

Word family

• misperformance
• nonperformance
• reperformance
• specific performance
• performance art

Related words

• perform
• performer
• furnish

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 j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)