Percival
Americannoun
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Arthurian Legend. Also Percivale a knight of King Arthur's court who sought the Holy Grail: comparable to Parzival or Parsifal in Teutonic legend.
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a male given name.
noun
Etymology
Origin of Percival
From Old French Perceval, of disputed origin; perhaps literally “pierce the valley” ( see pierce ( def. ), vale ( def. )) or “through this valley” (from par “through” + cel “this” + val “valley”; see per ( def. )); alternatively, an alteration of Welsh Peredur
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On Tuesday its students disrupted, heckled and tried to shout down a speech by Homeland Security general counsel James Percival.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
In the 1890s, long-simmering dreams of an inhabited Mars found a foothold in the U.S., fanned by wealthy astronomer Percival Lowell, who built an Arizona observatory.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
Addressing Garner in court, McColl's granddaughter Kelly Percival, 33, said: "Your dog basically ate my grandad, but you and your family don't care."
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
When we talked the other day, Percival wore a T-shirt with a cartoon image of a bull, with the word “PEN’’ stenciled on it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
After the night of the curse breaking, the portraits of Admiral Percival Racine Ashton and the Honorable Pax Ashton that hung in Lord Fredrick’s study were never the same.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
