Word origin
[1920–25;
peri- + Gk
tēktikós able to dissolve, akin to
te᷄kein to melt
]This word is first recorded in the period 1920–25. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: checkout, fundamentalism, self-service, slalom, superpowerperi- is a prefix meaning “about” or “around” (perimeter, periscope), “enclosing” or “surrounding” (pericardium), and “near” (perigee, perihelion), appearing in loanwords from Greek (peripeteia). On this model, peri- is used in the formation of compound words (perimorph)