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name

Percival

PUR-sih-vuhl

Percival (name) means a male given name from the Celtic languages. Example: “Lancelot Fortescue! What a name! And what was the other son - Percival? He wondered what the first Mrs Fortescue had been like? She had a curious taste in Christian names...”

name
1
A male given name from the Celtic languages.
"Lancelot Fortescue! What a name! And what was the other son - Percival? He wondered what the first Mrs Fortescue had been like? She had a curious taste in Christian names..." — Agatha Christie (1953)
2
A surname originating as a patronymic.
3
An unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fremont County, Iowa, United States.
4
A former hamlet in Saskatchewan, Canada.
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Lancelot Fortescue! What a name! And what was the other son - _____? He wondered what the first Mrs Fortescue had been like? She had a curious taste in Christian names...

Etymology

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.

Origin: Latin · First attested 1100

Class of 1100 Percival joined the language around 1100.
See the full Class of 1100 →

Rhymes for Percival

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Frequently asked questions

What does “Percival” mean?

The word “Percival” means a male given name from the Celtic languages.

How do you pronounce “Percival”?

“Percival” is pronounced PUR-sih-vuhl (/ˈpɜː(ɹ)sɪvəl/ in IPA).

How do you use “Percival” in a sentence?

Here is “Percival” used in a sentence: “Lancelot Fortescue! What a name! And what was the other son - Percival? He wondered what the first Mrs Fortescue had been like? She had a curious taste in Christian names.”

What part of speech is “Percival”?

“Percival” is a name.

Where does the word “Percival” come from?

The word “Percival” dates back to around 1100 and comes from Latin.

How many meanings does “Percival” have?

“Percival” has 4 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a male given name from the Celtic languages.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · etymology from Wiktionary