Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “perform” come from?

Perform comes from Middle English performen, from Anglo-Norman performer, from Old French parfurnir, composed of the prefix par- meaning thoroughly.

perform (English): To do something; to execute; To do in front of...

Definitions

  1. To do something; to execute; To do in front of...

Ancestry of “perform”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishparformen—

Words derived from “perform”

  • performance
  • performing
  • performer
  • performative
  • outperform
  • performativity
  • underperformance
  • nonperforming
  • nonperformance
  • underperform
  • performatively
  • outperformance
  • performable
  • performability
  • performeth
  • underperformer
  • reperformance
  • preperformance
  • postperformance
  • unperformable
  • overperformance
  • performest
  • reperform
  • overperform
Every word from Middle English parformen →