per

¹ American  

[pur, per] / pɜr, pər /

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.

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adverb

1. Informal. each; for each one.

   The charge for window-washing was five dollars per.

per- ² American  

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 ).

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per. ³ American  

abbreviation

1. percentile.

2. period.

3. person.

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Per. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. Persia.

2. Persian.

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per- ¹ British  

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

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per ² British  

/ pə, pɜː /

determiner

1. for every

   three pence per pound

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preposition

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

2. according to

   as per specifications

3. informal as usual

PER ³ British  

abbreviation

1. Professional Employment Register

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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.

Etymology

Origin of per¹

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

Origin of per-²

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

Example Sentences

That would make such a deal about £1,200 per year more expensive now that the equivalent deal at the start of March, assuming £250,000 was borrowed over 25 years.

From BBC

The problem at the moment is that these fuels in F1 are incredibly expensive - figures of 300 euros per litre have been mentioned.

From BBC

Neymar was, in his prime, simultaneously an outrageously talented and effective footballer, in the top 10 for goals per game in Europe's top five leagues this century.

From BBC

On Tuesday, the price jumped again by around 16 percent, with prices up to 134.30 pesos per litre at some pumps, the highest in the country's history.

From Barron's

Goldman Sachs revised its 2026 West Texas Intermediate forecast to $79 per barrel from $72 due to the war.

From Barron's