Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PER-CEIV-ANCE, n.

Power of perceiving. [Not in use.] – Milton.

PER-CEIVE, v.t. [L. percipio; per and capio, to take.]

1. To have knowledge or receive impressions of external objects through the medium or instrumentality of the senses or bodily organs; as, to perceive light or color; to perceive the cold of ice or the taste of honey.
2. To know; to understand; to observe. Till we ourselves see it with our own eyes, and perceive by our own understanding, we are in the dark. – Locke.
3. To be affected by; to receive impressions from. The upper regions of the air perceive the collection of the matter of tempests before the air below. – Bacon.

PER-CEIV-ED, pp.

Known by the senses; felt; understood; observed.

PER-CEIV-ER, n.

One who perceives, feels or observes.

PER-CENT'AGE, n. [from the Latin per centum, per cent.]

In commerce, the allowance, duty or commission on a hundred.

PER-CENTUM, or PER-CENT, adv. [Per centum, per cent; L.]

By the hundred.

PER-CEP-TI'BIL'I-TY, n.

1. The state or quality of being perceptible; as, the perceptibility of light or color.
2. Perception. [Less proper.] – More.

PER-CEP'TI-BLE, a. [Fr.; from L. percipio, perceptus.]

1. That may be perceived; that may impress the bodily organs; that may come under the cognizance of the senses; as, a perceptible degree of heat or cold; a perceptible odor; a perceptible sound. A thing may be too minute to be perceptible to the touch.
2. That may be known or conceived of.

PER-CEP'TI-BLY, adv.

In a manner to be perceived. The woman decays perceptibly every week. – Pope.

PER-CEP'TION, n. [L. perceptio. See Perceive.]

1. The act of perceiving or of receiving impressions by the senses; or that act or process of the mind which makes known an external object. In other words, the notice which the mind takes of external objects. We gain a knowledge of the coldness and smoothness of marble by perception.
2. In philosophy, the faculty of perceiving; the faculty or peculiar part of man's constitution, by which he has knowledge through the medium or instrumentality of the bodily organs. – Reid. Encyc.
3. Notion; idea. – Hall.
4. The state of being affected or capable of being affected; by something external. This experiment discovers perception in plants. – Bacon.

PER-CEP'TIVE, a.

Having the faculty of perceiving. – Glanville.

PER-CEP-TIV'I-TY, n.

The power of perception or thinking. – Locke.

PERCH, n.¹ [Fr. perche; L. perca; G. bars, a perch, and barsch, sharp, keen, pungent; D. baars; Sw. abbore; Dan. aborre. It would seem from the German, that this fish is named from its prickly spines, and the name allied to perk.]

The popular name of several species of a genus of acanthopterygious fishes called by naturalists Perca. They have powerful dorsal fins, with strong and sharp spines. The scales are moderately large, with the posterior edge toothed. They all feed on marine insects, and inhabit fresh water.

PERCH, n.² [Fr. perche; L. pertica; W. perc; Arm. perchen; probably allied to the former word in the sense of sharpness, shooting or extending. See Perk.]

1. A pole; hence, a roost for fowls, which is often a pole; also, any thing on which they light.
2. A measure of length containing five yards and a half; a rod. In the popular language of America, rod is chiefly used; but rod, pole, and perch, all signifying the same thing, may be used indifferently.

PERCH, v.i.

1. To sit or roost; as a bird.
2. To light or settle on a fixed body; as a bird.

PERCH, v.t.

To place on a fixed object or perch. – More.

PER-CHANCE, adv. [per and chance.]

By chance; perhaps. – Wolton.

PERCH'ED, pp.

Placed on a perch.

PERCH'ER, n.

An order of fowls which perch or light on trees, &c. These have four toes, three before and one behind. – Kirby.

PERCH'ERS, n.

Paris candles anciently used in England; also, a larger sort of wax candles which were usually set on the altar. – Bailey.

PERCH'ING, ppr.

Placing on a perch.

PER-CHLO'RATE, a.

A compound of perchloric acid with a base.

PER-CHLO'RIC, a.

Perchloric acid is chlorine converted into an acid by combining with a maximum of oxygen. – Silliman.

PERCH'PEST, n.

An animal that attaches itself to the mouth of a perch. – Kirby.

PER-CIP'I-ENCE, n.

Act of perceiving; perception. – Haslam.