Definition
verbTo do (something); to execute.
verbTo exhibit an expected pattern of behavior; to function; to work.
Sentence Examples
You must perform your duty.
You must perform all assignments in a timely manner.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English parformen, performen (“to perform”), from Anglo-Norman performer, parfourmer, alteration of Old French parfornir, parfurnir (“to complete, accomplish, perform”), from par- + fornir, furnir (“to accomplish, furnish”), from Frankish *frummjan (“to accomplish, furnish”), from Proto-Germanic *frumjaną, *framjaną (“to further, promote”), from Proto-Indo-European *promo- (“in front, forth”), *per- (“forward, out”). Cognate with Old High German frummen (“to do, execute, accomplish, provide”), Old Saxon frummian (“to perform, promote”), Old English fremman (“to perform, execute, carry out, accomplish”). See also frame, from. Modernly, rather than Proto-Germanic *frumjaną, associated with Latin formō, analyzable as per- + form.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work."
— 2013 July-August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist:
"I could care less how she perform when she in the bed"
— 2003, “P.I.M.P.”, in Get Rich or Die Tryin', performed by 50 Cent:
"Perform a part thou hast not done before."
— c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
"As things now stand, Brexit is a pointless gesture, a politics of headlines in which sovereignty is performed by bleating world-beating absurdities."
— 2021, David Edgerton, “The one good thing to come out of Brexit: a bonfire of national illusions”, in The Guardian:
"Even before her seven decades as monarch began, she performed Britishness more intuitively than anyone ever had, or likely ever will again."
— 2022 September 9, Sophie Gilbert, “No One Performed Britishness Better Than Her Majesty”, in The Atlantic: