Etymologically
Log in

per

This is an old revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 18:28. It may differ significantly from the current version. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Current version Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpɛr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɛr][1]

Forms

per (+ accusative)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *peri (“through, across”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *péri (“across”).[2][1] Besides the preposition, Latin has a prefix per- that strengthens adjectives (perbonus (“very good”)) and verbs (perficiō (“to complete”)), and a suffix ⟨-per⟩ that marks duration or number of times in semper, nūper and paulīsper.[2][3]

Cognate with Venetic per (“for”), Umbrian -per (“for”) and Oscan per-, Sanskrit परि (pári), Ancient Greek περί (perí) and Lithuanian per (“through”).[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in the Twelve Tables and in Livius Andronicus.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Per first means motion through or across a space (per hortum “through the garden”), then extent over it (“all over, throughout”) and duration (“during, throughout”).[3][5] From passing through came agency and means (“through, by means of”), cause (“because of”) and manner, and in oaths and entreaties it means “by”, often with a pronoun between it and the noun.[3][5][1]

An inscription of AD 159 already uses it with the ablative.[5] English took it in the 1580s in the sense “through, by means of”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – Used in the Twelve Tables.[4]
  • c. 280–200 BC – Livius Andronicus: the booty was shared out per participēs.[3][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato says ditches can be cleaned per fēriās, during holidays.[3][4]
  • AD 159 – An inscription from Misenum has per quō, with the ablative.[5]
  • 1580s – Borrowed into English as per.[6]

Meanings

Preposition

  1. (with accusative) through, across (a space).[3][5]
  2. Along; all over, throughout.[3]
  3. During, in the course of; throughout (a period).[3][1]
  4. Through, by means of, by the agency of.[5][1]
  5. Because of, on account of.[5]
  6. (in oaths and entreaties) By.[3][5]
  7. (Medieval Latin) For, with a view to.[7]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill