Etymology: Shortened < Perseus n., originally as a graphic abbreviation.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Old French per (842), Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French, French par (c1050) and its etymon classical Latin per through, by, by means of, in post-classical Latin also in a distributive sense, ‘for every…, for each…’ < a different ablaut grade of the Indo-European base of fore prep. Compare Italian per (960); also Dutch per (17th cent.), German per (15th cent., now only in idiomatic phrases), both probably < Italian.Used in English in various Latin and Old French phrases, and ultimately becoming practically an English preposition used freely before nouns of many classes. The Latin preposition first occurs in phrases borrowed from Latin from the 15th cent. onwards (e.g. per diem adv., per accidens adv.), but is later occasionally also used in English to form phrases with an inflected Latin second element, which are not attested in Latin (e.g. per mil adv., per procurationem adv.). Some phrases were transmitted via Italian in the 16th cent. (e.g. per centum adv.). The French preposition (in the form par- ) is reflected in a number of phrases which have been adopted unchanged. Several of these were borrowed in the Middle English period (e.g. par seinte charite int.), but many became obsolete by the 16th cent. Most current ones were borrowed from the 18th cent. onwards (e.g. par eminence adj., par exemple adv.). The oldest surviving phrases are per consequence adv., par excellence adv. In a small number of legal phrases the preposition was borrowed as per (e.g. per pais adv., per my et per tout adv. Several further phrases were borrowed from French in the Middle English period and the 16th cent., but have subsequently been contracted into a single word (e.g. pardie int., paramour adv.). A small number of loans are phrases which had already been contracted in French (e.g. paregal n., parterre n.). In many cases early borrowings from French survive with their first element in the form per- , probably after the Latin form of the preposition (compare especially peradventure adv., where the whole phrase was remodelled after Latin); compare also (with English second element) perhap adv., perhaps adv. In manuscripts and early printed books, per is frequently abbreviated, so it is not always possible to ascertain if the intended form is per or par . The function of the classical Latin preposition per has been taken over in many languages by the closely related classical Latin prō pro prep. and its descendants, or by borrowings of these. Variants in pur- of English words ultimately derived from classical Latin per reflect alterations with substitution of Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French pur (French pour ). Compare Spanish por (8th cent.), German pro (14th cent.). Compare also pur charite adv.