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• peri
  peri

  noun

  one of a large group of beautiful, fairylike beings of Persian mythology, represented as descended from fallen angels and excluded from paradise until their penance is accomplished.
• Peri
  Peri

  noun

  Jacopo 1561–1633, Italian composer.
• peri-
  peri-

  a prefix meaning “about” or “around” (perimeter, periscope ), “enclosing” or “surrounding” (pericardium ), and “near” (perigee, perihelion ), appearing in loanwords from Greek (peripeteia ); on this model, used in the formation of compound words (perimorph ).
• peri–
  peri–

  A prefix that means: “around” (as in pericardium,) or “near” (as in perihelion).

peri

¹ American  

[peer-ee] / ˈpɪər i /

noun

Persian Mythology.

• peris
  plural

1. one of a large group of beautiful, fairylike beings of Persian mythology, represented as descended from fallen angels and excluded from paradise until their penance is accomplished.

2. any lovely, graceful person.

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Peri ² American  

[pe-ree] / ˈpɛ ri /

noun

1. Jacopo 1561–1633, Italian composer.

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peri- ³ American  

1. a prefix meaning “about” or “around” (perimeter, periscope ), “enclosing” or “surrounding” (pericardium ), and “near” (perigee, perihelion ), appearing in loanwords from Greek (peripeteia ); on this model, used in the formation of compound words (perimorph ).

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peri- ¹ British  

prefix

1. enclosing, encircling, or around

   pericardium

   pericarp

   perigon

2. near or adjacent

   perihelion

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peri ² British  

/ ˈpɪərɪ /

noun

1. (in Persian folklore) one of a race of beautiful supernatural beings

2. any beautiful fairy-like creature

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peri– Scientific  

1. A prefix that means: “around” (as in pericardium,) or “near” (as in perihelion).

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• peris
  plural

Etymology

Origin of peri¹

1770–80; < Persian perī, variant of parī fairy, Middle Persian parīk, Avestan pairikā witch

Origin of peri-³

< Greek, prefixal use of perí (adv. and preposition)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

peri Peri peri- peris

Free roaming cats also prey on European mantises, which are already under pressure from competition with the invasive newcomers and are declining in many peri urban environments.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026

Since the Johannesburg-based restaurant chain opened its first store in London in 1992, its signature peri peri chicken has enamored British consumers’ appetites.

From New York Times ● Aug. 20, 2021

The South African chain, famous for its peri peri sauce, operates more than 400 restaurants across the UK.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2021

The peri then procures the last breath of a young woman who sacrifices herself so that she can die in the arms of her lover during an Egyptian plague.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2018

As beautiful as a peri, according to rumour.

From The Bronze Bell by Louis Joseph Vance

“The timing is quite significant just on the back of the India-U.S. trade deal,” said Dinakar Peri, a fellow in the security studies program at Carnegie India, a think tank based in New Delhi.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026

“Entertainment collaborations are one way to break through all the noise,” said Peri Edelstein, who leads Boston Consulting Group’s North America consumer practice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 15, 2026

Giovanni Peri, a professor of international economics at UC Davis, said he expected to see major effects on sectors with an immigrant-heavy workforce, including construction, restaurants and personal services.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 2026

Chaim Peri lived in Kibbutz Nir Oz, which was one of the 26 communities and towns close to the Gaza perimeter fence targeted by Hamas on 7 October.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2024

In 1597, their first semi-collaborative attempt at this new form, which they called ‘drama through music’, was a piece called Dafhe, with music by one of their number, Jacopo Peri.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

According to a recent study, about 27 million members of the American workforce are peri- or fully menopausal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2022

Gwyneth Paltrow, who turns 50 today, staked her menopausal claim years ago with Madame Ovary, a “supplemental protocol” designed to relieve peri- and menopausal symptoms.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2022

One of the largest demographics in America is women in their forties to sixties, and by 2020 there will be nearly 60 million peri- and post-menopausal women living in the United States.

From Time ● Apr. 3, 2015

The body of man in all partes at cōcord, euery part executing his func- cion & office, florisheth, and in strength prospereth, otherwise The bodie of man without concord of the partes, peri- sheth.

From A booke called the Foundacion of Rhetorike because all other partes of Rhetorike are grounded thereupon, euery parte sette forthe in an Oracion vpon questions, verie profitable to bee knowen and redde by Richard Rainolde

Less common complications are jaundice, peri- and endo-carditis, meningitis, local and general paralyses, cancrum oris, a diffuse cellular inflammation ending in purulent infiltration, and inflammatory swellings of the glands, or buboes.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

Camouflaged by rainbows, skylarks, fairies, peris, sensitive plants and Epipsychidions, there was no more successful softener than Sapper Shelley.

From Time Magazine Archive

Such words as "blastoderm", "sindoc," "peris," "parasang," "sarcenet," "teazel," "nullah," "cantatrice," "barracan," "sistrum," writhed and hissed in her verses.

From Time Magazine Archive

The peris of eastern romance, the fées, the fatas, and the fairies of European legends, were names which, in their ignorance, the people of different countries had given to the Sylphs.

From Mysteries of the Rosie Cross Or, the History of that Curious Sect of the Middle Ages, Known as the Rosicrucians; with Examples of their Pretensions and Claims as Set Forth in the Writings of Their Leaders and Disciples by Anonymous

A couple of wandering peris gazed wishfully at the hand bundle carefully enveloped in silvery tissue paper.

From The Midnight Passenger : a novel by Richard Savage

Numberless forms like the fabled peris and gods of mythology glided in and out of these arches, and approached me with offerings of welcome.

From Strange Visitors by Henry J. Horn