Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PER-CIP'I-ENT, a. [L. percipiens.]

Perceiving; having the faculty of perception. Animals are percipient beings; mere matter is not percipient. – Bentley.

PER-CIP'I-ENT, n.

One that perceives or has the faculty of perception. – More.

PER-CLOSE, n. [s as z.]

Conclusion. [Not used.] – Ralegh.

PER'CO-LATE, v.i.

To pass through small interstices; to filter as, water percolates through a porous stone.

PER'CO-LATE, v.t. [L. percolo; per and colo, to strain; Fr. couler, to flow or run.]

To strain through; to cause to pass through small interstices, as a liquor; to filter. – Hale.

PER'CO-LA-TED, pp.

Filtered; passed through small interstices.

PER'CO-LA-TING, ppr.

Filtering.

PER-CO-LA'TION, n.

The act of straining or filtering; filtration; the act of passing through small interstices, or liquor through felt or a porous stone. Percolation is intended for the purification of liquors. – Bacon.

PER-CUR'SO-RY, a. [L. percursus.]

Cursory; running over slightly or in haste.

PER-CUSS', v.t.¹ [L. percussus, from percutio, to strike.]

To strike. – Bacon.

PER-CUSS', v.t.²

To strike upon in order to ascertain the resulting sound.

PER-CUS'SION, n. [L. percussio.]

1. The set of striking one body against another, with some violence; as, the vibrations excited in the air by percussion. – Newton.
2. The impression one body makes on another by falling on it or striking it. – Encyc.
3. The impression or effect of sound on the ear. – Rymer.

PER-CUS'SION-LOCK, n.

A lock of a son in which gunpowder is exploded by fire obtained from the percussion of fulminating powder. – W. H. G.

PER-CU'TIENT, n. [L. percutiens.]

That which strikes, or has power to strike. – Bacon.

PER-DIEM, adv. [Per diem; L.]

By the day.

PER'DI-FOIL, n. [L. perdo, to lose, and folium, leaf.]

A plant that annually loses or drops its leaves; opposed to evergreen. The passion flower of America and the jasmine of Malabar, which are evergreens in their native climates, become perdifoils when transplanted into Britain. – Barton.

PER-DI'TION, n. [L. perditio, from perdo, to lose, to ruin. Qu. per and do, or Gr. περθω.]

1. Entire loss or ruin; utter destruction; as, the perdition of the Turkish fleet. – Shak. [In this sense, the word is now nearly or wholly obsolete.]
2. The utter loss of the soul or of final happiness in a future state; future misery or eternal death. The impenitent sinner is condemned to final perdition. If we reject the truth, we seal our own perdition. – J. M. Mason.
3. Loss. [Not used.] – Shak.

PER-DU', a.

Abandoned; employed on desperate purposes; accustomed to desperate purposes or enterprises. – Beaum and Fletcher.

PER-DU, or PER-DUE, adv. [Fr. perdu, lost, from perdre, to lose, L. perdo.]

Close; in concealment. The moderator, out of view, / Beneath the desk had lain perdue. – Trumbull's M' Fingall.

PER-DU', n.

One that is placed on the watch or in ambush. – Shak.

PER'DU-LOUS, a. [Fr. perdu, from L. perdo.]

Lost; thrown away. [Not used.] – Bramhall.

PER-DU'RA-BLE, a. [Fr. from L. perduro; per and duro, to last.]

Very durable; lasting; continuing long. [Not used.] – Shak. Drayton.

PER-DU'RA-BLY, adv.

Very durably. [Not used.] – Shak.

PER-DU-RA'TION, a.

Long continuance. [Not used.] – Ainsworth.

PER'DY, adv. [Fr. par Dieu.]

Certainly; verily; in truth. [Obs.] – Spenser.