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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

As part of OPEC, which sets and maintains output quotas on member countries, U.A.E. was producing around 3.64 million barrels per day in February, before the Iran war began.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 28, 2026

In February, the total number of days was 60,601 - 42 per person, compared to 57,512 - or 42.6 per person in March.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026

Mondelez reaffirmed its full-year outlook for organic net revenue growth of flat to 2% and adjusted earnings per share growth of flat to 5%.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026

The company maintained the target of 70 to 75 A320 family aircraft per month through 2025.

From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026

Soviet rocket scientists had just launched the world’s first satellite, Sputnik, a 184-pound aluminum sphere that was orbiting Earth every ninety-six minutes at 18,000 miles per hour.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin