Percival

[pur-suh-vuhl]

noun

1. Arthurian Legend.,  Also Percivale a knight of King Arthur's court who sought the Holy Grail: comparable to Parzival or Parsifal in Teutonic legend.

2. a male given name.

Percival

/ ˈpɜːsɪvəl /

noun

1. German equivalent: Parzival. (in Arthurian legend) a knight in King Arthur's court

Word History and Origins

Origin of Percival¹

From Old French Perceval, of disputed origin; perhaps literally “pierce the valley” ( pierce ( def. ), vale ( def. ) ) or “through this valley” (from par “through” + cel “this” + val “valley”; per ( def. ) ); alternatively, an alteration of Welsh Peredur

Example Sentences

He cast a bitter glance at the portrait of his grandfather, the vain and selfish Admiral Percival Racine Ashton, who wreck’d his ship on an enchanted isle and carelessly murdered a litter of sacred wolflings, as if they were a brace of grouse on his own estate!

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“Hang on, Madame. In this case, one of the parties involved was Admiral Percival Racine Ashton, who’s long dead, correct?”

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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.

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Pudge had been a cabin boy in his youth and, coincidentally, had served on a ship captained by the famed Admiral Percival Racine Ashton himself.

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“A long-lost diary,” he continued, “regarding a doomed voyage undertaken by Lord Fredrick Ashton’s great-grandfather, Admiral Percival Racine Ashton. According to the archives, the book is part of the holdings of the Ashton library.”

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