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.
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
Percival also warned that alerting lawmakers would be seen as “in bad faith and bordering on material misrepresentation to Congress.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
DHS general counsel James Percival disputed the allegations, and a spokeswoman for DHS said the inspector general hadn’t detailed the scope of its inquiry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
“I made sure that he could hit fungoes,” Percival said, “because I can’t.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
Henry was a bit of a leader this afternoon, because the other two were Percival and Johnny, the smallest boys on the island.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
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.
