"P" Word Origins

peppermint

Origin

From pepper + mint, describing its sharp, peppery bite.

pepperoni

Italian

Borrowed from Italian peperoni, meaning "bell peppers" — the name shifted meaning when it crossed into American English.

peppery

Origin

From pepper + -y.

peppy

Origin

From pep + -y.

Pepsi

Origin · 1898

Coined in 1898, short for "Pepsi-Cola," chosen to suggest the drink could relieve dyspepsia (indigestion).

per

Latin

From Latin per, meaning "through" or "by means of" — the same root that gives us "percent" (per + centum, "by the hundred").

per capita

Latin

Latin, literally 'by heads', from per 'by' and capita, plural of caput 'head'.

per diem

Latin

Latin, literally 'by the day', from per 'by' and diem, accusative of dies 'day'.

per se

Latin

Latin, literally 'by itself', from per 'by, through' and se 'itself'.

peradventure

Origin

From Middle English peraventure, peradventure, from Old French par aventure. Spelling modified as though from Latin. Equivalent to per- + adventure.

Peralta

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Peralta.

perambulation

Origin

From Middle English perambulacioun, from Anglo-Norman and Latin. By surface analysis, perambulate + -ation, or, by surface analysis, per- + ambulate + -ion.

Perce

Origin

A variant of Piers.

perceive

Latin

From Old French percevoir, from Latin percipere ("to grasp, seize"), built from per- ("thoroughly") and capere ("to take") — the same root that gives us "capture" and "receive".

percent

New Latin

From New Latin per centum, literally "by the hundred".

percentage

Origin

Formed from "percent" plus the suffix -age, indicating a rate or proportion.

percentile

Origin · 1885

Coined in 1885 by the statistician Francis Galton, combining "percent" with the suffix "-ile" (as in "decile").

percept

Origin

A learned borrowing, after concept, from Classical Latin perceptum (“a proposition, principle, general idea”), from the neuter of perceptus (“perceived”), the past participle of percipiō (“to perceive”); see perceive. Coined by the Scottish metaphysician Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet (1788–1856), in Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic, published posthumously in 1860 (see the quotation).

perceptible

Origin

Borrowed from Late Latin perceptibilis, from Latin percipio.

perception

Latin

From Latin perceptio, "a gathering or grasping", from percipere, "to perceive" — see "perceive".

perceptive

Latin

From Latin perceptivus, related to percipere, "to perceive".

perceptivity

Origin

From perceptive + -ity.

perch

Latin

From Old French perche, from Latin perca, from Greek perke, "perch (the fish)".

perchance

Old French

From Old French par cheance, literally "by chance".

percipient

Origin

From Latin percipiēns, present participle of percipiō (“to perceive”).

Percival

Latin · 1100

From Old French Perceval, name of a knight in a twelfth century Arthurian romance by the French poet Chrétien de Troyes. Shaped like Old French percier (“pierce”) + val (“valley”), but probably representing some Gaulish or Old Welsh name, possibly related to Welsh Peredur, from ber (“spear, lance”) (from Middle Welsh ber, from Proto-Brythonic *ber, from Proto-Celtic *beru (“spit”)) + dur (“hard metal, steel”) (see Latin durus). Cognate with German Parzival and Parsifal.

Percocet

Origin

A trademarked brand name for the oxycodone-paracetamol combination drug.

percolate

Origin

Borrowed from Latin percōlātus, perfect passive participle of percōlō (“to filter”), itself, from per (“through”) + cōlō (“to strain”) (from cōlum (“a strainer”), of unknown origin); see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix).

percolation

Origin

From Latin percōlātiō.

percussion

Latin

From Latin percussio, "a striking", from percutere, "to strike through" (per- + quatere, "to shake").

percussive

Origin

Formed from "percuss" (to strike) plus the adjective suffix "-ive".

Percy

Origin

The surname traces to a Norman place name, Percy-en-Auge in Normandy. As slang for "weak man," it likely comes simply from the two words sharing the same first letter.

perdita

Origin

Borrowed from Latin perdita (“lost woman”).

perdition

Latin

From Old French perdiciun, from Latin perditio, "loss, destruction", from perdere, "to destroy or lose completely".

perdurable

Origin

From Middle English perdurable, from Old French pardurable, from Medieval Latin perdūrābilis, from Latin perdurāre (“to endure”), from per- (“throughout”) + durare (“to last”).

Pere

French

Various origins: * Borrowed from French Péré, a habitational surname. * Borrowed from Catalan Pere, a personal name equivalent of Peter. * Borrowed from Hungarian Pere.

peregrinator

Origin

Borrowed from Latin peregrīnātor.

peregrine

Latin

From Latin peregrinus, "foreign, coming from abroad" — the same root that gives us "pilgrim".

Pereira

Portuguese

Borrowed from Portuguese Pereira.

peremptory

Origin

From Anglo-Norman peremptorie, parentorie et al. (Modern French péremptoire), and its source, Latin peremptōrius (“deadly; precluding debate, decisive”), from perimō (“destroy, thwart”), from per- (“thorough”) + emō (“to obtain, buy”).

perennate

Origin

From Latin perennō.

perennial

Latin

From Latin perennis, "lasting through the year", from per- ("throughout") + annus ("year").

perennity

Origin

From perenn + -ity, from Latin perennitas.

Perez

Hebrew

From Hebrew פֶּרֶץ (pérets).

perfect

Latin

From Latin perfectus, "completed, finished", from perficere ("to finish, accomplish"), from per- ("thoroughly") + facere ("to do or make").

perfecta

Origin

From American Spanish quiniela perfecta (“perfect quinella”).

perfection

Latin

From Old French perfection, from Latin perfectio, "a finishing, completion", from perficere ("to complete").

perfectionist

Origin

Formed from "perfection" plus the suffix "-ist", denoting a person associated with a trait or belief.