Per
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: /pÉœË(ɹ)/
- US IPA: /pÉ/
- Rhymes: -ÉœË(r)
- Homophones: purr
Origin 1
From Latin per ("through, during"), from Proto-Indo-European *per.
Full definition of per
Preposition
- for eachAdmission is £10 per person.
- to each, in each (used in expressing ratios of units)miles per gallonbeats per minute
- (medicine) via (the), by (the), through (the) followed by Latin name for an orificeIntroduce the endoscope per nasum.The medication is to be administered per os.
- in accordance withI parked my car at the curb per your request.
Usage notes
The preposition per is typically followed by a singular noun phrase with no determiner.
Take one pill per day. not Take one pill per a day.
It is sometimes followed by plural noun phrases, almost always determined by 100, 1,000, 100,000, etc.
The abortion rate in the U.S. has dropped since 1980 from nearly 30 per 1,000 women of childbearing age to less than 20.
Derived terms
- per accidens
- per annum
- per anum
- per capita
- per cent
- per consequens
- per contra
- per curiam
- per diem
- per fas et (aut) nefas
- per impossibile
- per incuriam
- per interim
- per maistrie
- per mensem
- per mil, per mille
- per minima
- per my et per tout
- per orem
- per pais, per pays
- per pares
- per primam
- per primam intentionem
- per procurationem
- per quod
- per saltum
- per se
- per stirpes
Related terms
- per- (as in perfect, perfection and perplex)
Origin 2
shortening of person, coined by Marge Piercy in Woman on the Edge of Time (1979)
Pronoun
- (neologism) they singular. gender-neutral
- 1997 April 22, "Anthony and Joy Hilbert" (username), "ASB: Info PDQ please re local group rules", in alt.sex.bondage
- This is the same place the Houghtons came from? The place where someone we interacted with thought of going into law as a profession, decided per couldn't because per was a bdsmer, and most of the USAmerican bdsmers per was discussing it with agreed with per?
- (neologism) them singular Gender-neutral third-person singular object pronoun, grammatically equivalent to the gendered him and her.
- 1997 April 22, "Anthony and Joy Hilbert" (username), "ASB: Info PDQ please re local group rules", in alt.sex.bondage
- This is the same place the Houghtons came from? The place where someone we interacted with thought of going into law as a profession, decided per couldn't because per was a bdsmer, and most of the USAmerican bdsmers per was discussing it with agreed with per?
Derived terms
- neologism perself
Adjective
adjective
Derived terms
- neologism pers