Per Per preposition [ Latin Confer Far , For- , Pardon , and confer Par , prep .] Through; by means of; through the agency of; by; for; for each; as, per annum; per capita, by heads, or according to individuals; per curiam, by the court; per se, by itself, of itself. Per is also sometimes used with English words. Per annum , by the year; in each successive year; annually. -- Per cent , Per centum , by the hundred; in the hundred; -- used esp. of proportions of ingredients, rate or amount of interest, and the like; commonly used in the shortened form per cent . -- Per diem , by the day. [ For other phrases from the Latin, see Quotations, Phrases, etc., from Foreign Languages, in the Supplement.]

Per diem Per di"em [ Latin ] By the day; substantively (chiefly U. S.), an allowance or amount of so much by the day.

Per- Per- [ See Per .] 1. A prefix used to signify through , throughout , by , for , or as an intensive as per haps, by hap or chance; per ennial, that lasts throughout the year; per force, through or by force; per foliate, per forate; per spicuous, evident throughout or very evident; per plex, literally, to entangle very much. 2. (Chemistry) Originally, denoting that the element to the name of which it is prefixed in the respective compounds exercised its highest valence ; now, only that the element has a higher valence than in other similar compounds; thus, barium per oxide is the highest oxide of barium; while nitrogen and manganese per oxides, so-called, are not the highest oxides of those elements.

Peract Per·act" transitive verb [ Latin peractus , past participle of peragere .] To go through with; to perform. [ Obsolete] Sylvester.

Peracute Per`a·cute" adjective [ Latin peracutus . See Per- , and Acute .] Very sharp; very violent; as, a peracute fever. [ R.] Harvey.

Peradventure Per`ad·ven"ture adverb & conj. [ Middle English per aventure , French par aventure . See Per , and Adventure .] By chance; perhaps; it may be; if; supposing. "If peradventure he speak against me." Shak.

Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city.

Gen. xviii. 24.

Peradventure Per`ad·ven"ture noun Chance; hap; hence, doubt; question; as, proved beyond peradventure . South.

Peragrate Per"a·grate transitive verb [ Latin peragratus , past participle of peragrate .] To travel over or through. [ Obsolete]

Peragration Per`agra"tion noun [ Latin peragratio : confer French peragration .] The act or state of passing through any space; as, the peragration of the moon in her monthly revolution. [ Obsolete] Sir T. Browne.

Perambulate Per·am"bu·late transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Perambulated ; present participle & verbal noun Perambulating .] [ Latin perambulatus , past participle of perambulare to perambulate; per through + ambulare to walk. See Per- , and Amble .] To walk through or over; especially, to travel over for the purpose of surveying or examining; to inspect by traversing; specifically, to inspect officially the boundaries of, as of a town or parish, by walking over the whole line.

Perambulate Per·am"bu·late intransitive verb To walk about; to ramble; to stroll; as, he perambulated in the park.

Perambulation Per·am`bu·la"tion noun 1. The act of perambulating; traversing. Bacon. 2. An annual survey of boundaries, as of town, a parish, a forest, etc. 3. A district within which one is authorized to make a tour of inspection. "The . . . bounds of his own perambulation ." [ Obsolete] Holyday.

Perambulator Per·am"bu·la`tor noun 1. One who perambulates. 2. A surveyor's instrument for measuring distances. It consists of a wheel arranged to roll along over the ground, with an apparatus of clockwork, and a dial plate upon which the distance traveled is shown by an index. See Odometer . 3. A low carriage for a child, propelled by pushing.

Perameles Per`a·me"les noun [ New Latin , from Greek ... a pouch + Latin meles a badger.] (Zoology) Any marsupial of the genus Perameles , which includes numerous species found in Australia. They somewhat resemble rabbits in size and form. See Illust. under Bandicoot .

Perbend Per"bend noun See Perpender .

Perbreak Per"break` noun [ Obsolete] See Parbreak .

Perbromate Per·bro"mate noun (Chemistry) A salt of perbromic acid.

Perbromic Per·bro"mic adjective [ Prefix per- + bromic .] (Chemistry) Pertaining to, or designating, the highest oxygen acid, HBrO ₄ , of bromine.

Perbromide Per·bro"mide noun (Chemistry) A bromide having a higher proportion of bromine than any other bromide of the same substance or series.

Perca Per"ca noun [ Latin , a perch.] (Zoology) A genus of fishes, including the fresh-water perch.

Percale Per`cale" noun [ French] A fine cotton fabric, having a linen finish, and often printed on one side, - - used for women's and children's wear.

Percaline Per`ca`line" noun [ French] A fine kind of French cotton goods, usually of one color.

Percaline Per`ca·line" noun [ French] A fine kind of cotton goods, usually of one color, and with a glossy surface, -- much use for linings.

Percarbide Per·car"bide noun [ Prefix per- + carbide .] (Chemistry) A compound containing a relatively large amount of carbon. [ R.]

Percarburet Per·car"bu·ret noun [ Prefix per- + carburet .] (Chemistry) A percarbide. [ Obsoles.]

Percarbureted Per·car"bu·ret`ed adjective (Chemistry) Combined with a relatively large amount of carbon.

Percase Per·case" adverb [ Middle English per cas . See Parcase .] Perhaps; perchance. [ Obsolete] Bacon.

Perce Perce transitive verb To pierce. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Perceivable Per·ceiv"a·ble adjective Capable of being perceived; perceptible. -- Per*ceiv"a*bly , adverb

Perceivance Per·ceiv"ance noun Power of perceiving. [ Obsolete] "The senses and common perceivance ." Milton.

Perceive Per·ceive" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Perceived ; present participle & verbal noun Perceiving .] [ Old French percevoir , perceveir , Latin percipere , perceptum ; per (see Per- ) + capere to take, receive. See Capacious , and confer Perception .] 1. To obtain knowledge of through the senses; to receive impressions from by means of the bodily organs; to take cognizance of the existence, character, or identity of, by means of the senses; to see, hear, or feel; as, to perceive a distant ship; to perceive a discord. Reid. 2. To take intellectual cognizance of; to apprehend by the mind; to be convinced of by direct intuition; to note; to remark; to discern; to see; to understand.

Jesus perceived their wickedness.

Matt. xxii. 18.

You may, fair lady,
Perceive I speak sincerely.

Shak.

Till we ourselves see it with our own eyes, and perceive it by our own understandings, we are still in the dark.

Locke. 3. To be affected of influented by. [ R.]

The upper regions of the air perceive the collection of the matter of tempests before the air here below.

Bacon. Syn. -- To discern; distinguish; observe; see; feel; know; understand. -- To Perceive , Discern . To perceive a thing is to apprehend it as presented to the senses or the intellect; to discern is to mark differences, or to see a thing as distinguished from others around it. We may perceive two persons afar off without being able to discern whether they are men or women. Hence, discern is often used of an act of the senses or the mind involving close, discriminating, analytical attention. We perceive that which is clear or obvious; we discern that which requires much attention to get an idea of it. "We perceive light, darkness, colors, or the truth or falsehood of anything. We discern characters, motives, the tendency and consequences of actions, etc." Crabb.

Perceiver Per·ceiv"er noun One who perceives (in any of the senses of the verb). Milton.

Percely Perce"ly noun Parsley. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Percentage Per·cent"age noun [ Per cent + -age , as in average. See Per , and Cent .] (Com.) A certain rate per cent; the allowance, duty, rate of interest, discount, or commission, on a hundred.

Percept Per"cept noun [ From Latin percipere , perceptum .] That which is perceived. Sir W. Hamilton.

The modern discussion between percept and concept, the one sensuous, the other intellectual.

Max Müller.

Perceptibility Per·cep`ti·bil"i·ty noun [ Confer French perceptibilité .] 1. The quality or state of being perceptible; as, the perceptibility of light or color. 2. Perception. [ R.] Dr. H. More.

Perceptible Per·cep"ti·ble adjective [ Latin perceptibilis : confer French perceptible . See Perceive .] Capable of being perceived; cognizable; discernible; perceivable.

With a perceptible blast of the air.

Bacon. -- Per*cep"ti*ble*ness , noun -- Per*cep"ti*bly , adverb

Perception Per·cep"tion noun [ Latin perceptio : confer French perception . See Perceive .] 1. The act of perceiving; cognizance by the senses or intellect; apperhension by the bodily organs, or by the mind, of what is presented to them; discernment; apperhension; cognition. 2. (Metaph.) The faculty of perceiving; the faculty, or peculiar part, of man's constitution by which he has knowledge through the medium or instrumentality of the bodily organs; the act of apperhending material objects or qualities through the senses; -- distinguished from conception . Sir W. Hamilton.

Matter hath no life nor perception , and is not conscious of its own existence.

Bentley. 3. The quality, state, or capability, of being affected by something external; sensation; sensibility. [ Obsolete]

This experiment discovereth perception in plants.

Bacon. 4. An idea; a notion. [ Obsolete] Sir M. Hale. » "The word perception is, in the language of philosophers previous to Reid, used in a very extensive signification. By Descartes, Malebranche, Locke, Leibnitz, and others, it is employed in a sense almost as unexclusive as consciousness , in its widest signification. By Reid this word was limited to our faculty acquisitive of knowledge, and to that branch of this faculty whereby, through the senses, we obtain a knowledge of the external world. But his limitation did not stop here. In the act of external perception he distinguished two elements, to which he gave the names of perception and sensation . He ought perhaps to have called these perception proper and sensation proper , when employed in his special meaning." Sir W. Hamilton.

Perceptive Per·cep"tive adjective [ Confer French perceptif .] Of or pertaining to the act or power of perceiving; having the faculty or power of perceiving; used in perception. "His perceptive and reflective faculties." Motley.

Perceptivity Per`cep·tiv"i·ty noun The quality or state of being perceptive; power of perception. Locke.

Percesoces Per·ces"o·ces noun plural [ New Latin , from Latin perca a perch + esox , -ocis , a pike.] (Zoology) An order of fishes including the gray mullets ( Mugil ), the barracudas, the silversides, and other related fishes. So called from their relation both to perches and to pikes.

Perch Perch (pẽrch) noun [ Written also pearch .] [ Middle English perche , French perche , Latin perca , from Greek pe`rkh ; confer perkno`s dark-colored, Sanskrit prçni spotted, speckled, and English freckle .] (Zoology) 1. Any fresh-water fish of the genus Perca and of several other allied genera of the family Percidæ , as the common American or yellow perch ( Perca flavescens, or Americana ), and the European perch ( P. fluviatilis ). 2. Any one of numerous species of spiny-finned fishes belonging to the Percidæ , Serranidæ , and related families, and resembling, more or less, the true perches. Black perch . (a) The black bass . (b) The flasher . (c) The sea bass. -- Blue perch , the cunner. -- Gray perch , the fresh-water drum. -- Red perch , the rosefish. -- Red-bellied perch , the long- eared pondfish. -- Perch pest , a small crustacean, parasitic in the mouth of the perch. -- Silver perch , the yellowtail. -- Stone , or Striped , perch , the pope. -- White perch , the Roccus, or Morone, Americanus , a small silvery serranoid market fish of the Atlantic coast.

Perch Perch noun [ French perche , Latin pertica .] 1. A pole; a long staff; a rod; esp., a pole or other support for fowls to roost on or to rest on; a roost; figuratively, any elevated resting place or seat.

As chauntecleer among his wives all
Sat on his perche , that was in his hall.

Chaucer.

Not making his high place the lawless perch
Of winged ambitions.

Tennyson. 2. (a) A measure of length containing five and a half yards; a rod, or pole. (b) In land or square measure: A square rod; the 160th part of an acre. (c) In solid measure: A mass 16½ feet long, 1 foot in height, and 1½ feet in breadth, or 24¾ cubic feet (in local use, from 22 to 25 cubic feet); -- used in measuring stonework. 3. A pole connecting the fore gear and hind gear of a spring carriage; a reach.

Perch Perch intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Perched ; present participle & verbal noun Perching .] [ French percher . See Perch a pole.] To alight or settle, as a bird; to sit or roost.

Wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch .

Shak.

Perch Perch transitive verb 1. To place or to set on, or as on, a perch. 2. To occupy as a perch. Milton.

Perchance Per·chance" adverb [ French par by (L. per ) + chance . See Par , and Chance .] By chance; perhaps; peradventure.

Perchant Perch"ant noun [ French] A bird tied by the foot, to serve as decoy to other birds by its fluttering.

Percher Perch"er noun [ From Perch , intransitive verb ] 1. One who, or that which, perches. J. Burroughs. 2. One of the Insessores. 3. [ From Perch a pole.] A Paris candle anciently used in England; also, a large wax candle formerly set upon the altar. [ Obsolete] Bailey.

Percheron Per"che·ron noun [ French] One of a breed of draught horses originating in Perche , an old district of France; -- called also Percheron-Norman .

Perchlorate Per·chlo"rate noun (Chemistry) A salt of perchloric acid.