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• per
  per

  preposition

  for each; for every.
• per-
  per-

  a prefix meaning “through,” “thoroughly,” “utterly,” “very”: pervert; pervade; perfect.
• per.
  per.

  abbreviation

  percentile.
• Per.
  Per.

  abbreviation

  Persia.
• PER
  PER

  abbreviation

  Professional Employment Register

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”; see for

Origin of per-²

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

Example Sentences

This year's prices will be kept at an annual £366.32 infrastructure charge and an energy charge of £18.92 per year per sqm, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026

He expects uranium will reach $200 per pound by the end of 2027 from around $85 currently, citing a yearly uranium shortage of 30,000 tons.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 29, 2026

Soccer Federation is being allocated about 500 of those tickets per U.S. game, a federation spokeswoman said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026

Both groups drank water containing low levels of NDMA, about five parts per million, over a two week period.

From Science Daily • Apr. 29, 2026

In the open ocean, a tsunami moves incredibly fast—up to 500 miles per hour.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland