per

¹

[pur, per]

preposition

1. for each; for every.

   Membership costs ten dollars per year. This cloth is two dollars per yard.

2. by means of; by; through.

   I am sending the recipe per messenger.

3. Also according to; in accordance with.

   I delivered the box per your instructions.

   He managed to monopolize the meeting, per usual.

adverb

1. Informal.,  each; for each one.

   The charge for window-washing was five dollars per.

per-

²

1. a prefix meaning “through,” “thoroughly,” “utterly,” “very”: pervert; pervade; perfect.

2. Chemistry.,  a prefix used in the names of inorganic acids and their salts that possess the maximum amount of the element specified in the base word: percarbonic (H 2 C 2 O5 ), permanganic (HMnO4 ), persulfuric (H 2 S 2 O8 ), acids; potassium permanganate (KMnO4 ); potassium persulfate (K 2 S 2 O8 ).

per.

³

abbreviation

1. percentile.

2. period.

3. person.

Per.

⁴

abbreviation

1. Persia.

2. Persian.

per-

¹

prefix

1. through

   pervade

2. throughout

   perennial

3. away, beyond

   perfidy

4. completely, throughly

   perplex

5. (intensifier)

   perfervid

6. indicating that a chemical compound contains a high proportion of a specified element

   peroxide

   perchloride

7. indicating that a chemical element is in a higher than usual state of oxidation

   permanganate

   perchlorate

8. (not in technical usage) a variant of peroxy-

   persulphuric acid

per

²

/ pə, pɜː /

determiner

1. for every

   three pence per pound

preposition

1. (esp in some Latin phrases) by; through

2. according to

   as per specifications

3. informal,  as usual

PER

³

abbreviation

1. Professional Employment Register

Usage

Per meaning a or an or for each occurs chiefly in technical or statistical contexts: miles per gallon; work-hours per week; feet per second; gallons of beer per person per year. It is also common in sports commentary: He averaged 16 points per quarter. Per is sometimes criticized in business writing in the sense “according to” and is rare in literary writing.

Word History and Origins

Origin of per¹

First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin: “through, by, for, for each”; for

Origin of per²

From Latin, combining form of per, and used as an intensive; per

Word History and Origins

Origin of per¹

from Latin per through

Origin of per²

C15: from Latin: by, for each

Example Sentences

Quentin Pacelli of Garden Grove is averaging 11.2 yards per carry with 584 yards rushing and seven touchdowns.

From Los Angeles Times

The SSE tariff decrease means the annual gas bill of a typical household will reduce by about £94 per year.

From BBC

Property owners were advertising monthly rates for newcomers starting at $900 per spot, a significant increase from current rates.

From Los Angeles Times

The jump means coffee drinkers might end up paying up to 7% more per cup, assuming cafes absorb some of the extra cost, he estimated.

From BBC

Switching from traditional blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces can lower carbon emissions per tonne of steel produced from 2.32 tonnes of CO2 to 0.67 tonnes of CO2.

From BBC