performance

[per-fawr-muhns]

noun

1. a musical, dramatic, or other entertainment presented before an audience.

2. the act of performing a ceremony, play, piece of music, etc.

3. the execution or accomplishment of work, acts, feats, etc.

4. a particular action, deed, or proceeding.

5. an action or proceeding of an unusual or spectacular kind.

   His temper tantrum was quite a performance.

6. the act of performing.

7. the manner in which or the efficiency with which something reacts or fulfills its intended purpose.

8. Linguistics.,  the actual use of language in real situations, which may or may not fully reflect a speaker's competence, being subject to such nonlinguistic factors as inattention, distraction, memory lapses, fatigue, or emotional state.

performance

/ pəˈfɔːməns /

noun

1. the act, process, or art of performing

2. an artistic or dramatic production

   last night's performance was terrible

3. manner or quality of functioning

   a machine's performance

4. informal,  mode of conduct or behaviour, esp when distasteful or irregular

   what did you mean by that performance at the restaurant?

5. informal,  any tiresome procedure

   what a performance dressing the children to play in the snow!

6. any accomplishment

7. linguistics (in transformational grammar) the form of the human language faculty, viewed as concretely embodied in speakers Compare competence langue parole

Other Word Forms

• misperformance noun
• reperformance noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of performance¹

First recorded in 1485–95; perform + -ance

Example Sentences

That year the KnuckleHeadz struck a chord with me, not just through their all-in, no-holds-barred performances, but also through their message, their obvious love for one another and their mission to better their community.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The memo put forth a wide-ranging set of terms the administration says are intended to elevate university standards and performance.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The 18 newly announced cast members include Danielle Deadwyler, who has been nominated for several major awards for her performance in films such as Till and The Piano Lesson.

Read more on BBC

Arends looked back at the history of broad stock-market declines to spell out risks to index-fund investors, who might only be thinking about the low expenses and strong performance they have enjoyed in recent years.

Read more on MarketWatch

One, called LCA, damaged T cell function by causing endoplasmic reticulum stress, while another, UDCA, boosted T cell performance and drew more immune cells to the liver.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

• act 
• appearance 
• behavior 
• concert 
• dance 
• display 
• drama 
• opera 
• play 
• portrayal 
• presentation 
• production 
• show