PER Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

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per

[ pur; unstressed per ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

preposition

for each; for every:
Membership costs ten dollars per year. This cloth is two dollars per yard.
by means of; by; through:
I am sending the recipe per messenger.
Also . according to; in accordance with:
I delivered the box per your instructions.
He managed to monopolize the meeting, per usual.

adverb

Informal. each; for each one:
The charge for window-washing was five dollars per.

per-

a prefix meaning “through,” “thoroughly,” “utterly,” “very”: pervert; pervade; perfect.
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 O 5 ), permanganic (HMnO 4 ), persulfuric (H 2 S 2 O 8 ), acids; potassium permanganate (KMnO 4 ); potassium persulfate (K 2 S 2 O 8 ).

per.

abbreviation for

percentile.
period.
person.

Per.

⁴

abbreviation for

Persia.
Persian.

per

/ pə; pɜː /

determiner

for every
three pence per pound

preposition

(esp in some Latin phrases) by; through
as per
according to
as per specifications
as per usual informal.
as usual

PER

abbreviation for

Professional Employment Register

per-

prefix

through
pervade
throughout
perennial
away, beyond
perfidy
completely, throughly
perplex
(intensifier)
perfervid
indicating that a chemical compound contains a high proportion of a specified element
peroxide
perchloride
indicating that a chemical element is in a higher than usual state of oxidation
perchlorate
permanganate
not in technical usage a variant of peroxy-
persulphuric acid

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Usage Note

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.

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51�Թ� 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

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of per¹

C15: from Latin: by, for each

Origin of per²

from Latin per through

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

But while the Banksy in Margate is now on the verge of selling for well over £1m, with a sizeable chunk set to go to a domestic violence charity, and with the piece remaining in the town for the foreseeable future, the Banksy up the coast in Lowestoft languishes in a climate-controlled warehouse, costing its owners £3,000 per month.

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He averaged 16.7 points per game over the final four months of the season and shot 43% from 3-point range, one of the best rates in the nation.

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Playing for Croatia’s ZKK Tresnjevka 2009 in the country’s top league, the 6-foot-3 guard averaged 15.4 points, six rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

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TikTok's current owner, ByteDance, would keep a 20% stake in the new company, per CNN.

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Many popular trails and campgrounds in the Angeles National Forest could remain closed at least through the end of the year, per orders by the Forest Service.

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