per
- 1For each; used to give a rate, price, or amount for every single unit, person, or thing.
The car was traveling at sixty miles per hour.
Sound moves at roughly 343 meters per second through air.
UsageNo article after it: per hour, per person. In everyday speech a also works: sixty miles an hour.
- 2In accordance with; following what has been stated, agreed, or instructed.
Per the updated policy, employees may work from home twice a week.
The shipment was prepared per the client's detailed specifications.
UsageAlso as per: as per your request. Most at home in instructions, specifications and business letters.
Similarfollowing
- 3By means of, via, or through a specified route or channel.
The patient must take nothing per os until the anesthetic has fully worn off.
Because she could not stop vomiting, the drug was given per rectum instead.
Note
Clinical Latin keeps the word close to its Latin root, per meaning "through". In prescriptions and procedure notes it comes before a Latin noun naming a route into the body: per os, by mouth; per nasum, through the nose; per rectum. No article appears in these set phrases, because Latin has no articles.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- English per derives from Latin per, meaning “through”. en.wiktionary.org
- Per os is Latin for administration by mouth. en.wiktionary.org
- Per nasum is a Latin phrase meaning through the nose. en.wiktionary.org
- Per rectum names the rectal route of administration. en.wiktionary.org
- These Latin phrases lack articles because Latin has no definite or indefinite articles. open.edu
Less common meanings
- 4Used to identify the source of a statement or fact, such as a person, publication, or record, much like according to.
The company lost money for a third straight quarter, per its latest earnings report.
Per two people familiar with the talks, the deal could be announced as early as Monday.
Note
Latin per meant "through", and here a fact arrives through someone or something: a report, a filing, two people familiar with the talks. It sits close to the "in accordance with" meaning (per your instructions), but that one names what an action follows, while this one names where a claim came from. If as reported by fits in its place, it is this sense.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Latin per meant “through”. en.wiktionary.org
- 5A gender-neutral third-person singular pronoun, used in place of he or she, or him or her.
- 6A gender-neutral third-person singular possessive adjective, used in place of his or her.
Whereas Christie had flirted with a lesbian identity prior to surgery, following surgery Christie found perself able to pursue per attraction to men, provided they related to per as a non-gendered person.
2006, Richard Ekins, Dave King
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
From Latin per ("through, during"), which goes back to the Proto-Indo-European root *per. It is a doublet of par.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- English per comes from Latin per. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin per means “through” or “during.” en.wiktionary.org
- Latin per goes back to Proto-Indo-European *per. en.wiktionary.org
- English per and par are doublets. en.wiktionary.org