Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Perform in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels perform as verb. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913verb
Perform

[OE. performen, parfourmen, parfournen, OF. parfornir, parfournir, to finish, complete; OF. & F. par (see Par) + fournir to finish, complete. The word has been influenced by form; cf. L. performare to form thoroughly. See Furnish.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordperform
Part of speechverb
Historical etymology[OE. performen, parfourmen, parfournen, OF. parfornir, parfournir, to finish, complete; OF. & F. par (see Par) + fournir to finish, complete. The word has been influenced by form; cf. L. performare to form thoroughly. See Furnish.]
Selected historical definitionTo carry through; to bring to completion; to achieve; to accomplish; to execute; to do.
Signed record IDwebster1913-perform-verb-89e548895821
Source locatorCIDE.P, paragraph 5193; Gutenberg eBook 666
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 666Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "perform" is labeled verb. Its etymology is recorded as: "[OE. performen, parfourmen, parfournen, OF. parfornir, parfournir, to finish, complete; OF. & F. par (see Par) + fournir to finish, complete. The word has been influenced by form; cf. L. performare to form thoroughly. See Furnish.]" The selected historical definition says: "To carry through; to bring to completion; to achieve; to accomplish; to execute; to do."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

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Webster 1913 exact recordverb

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Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Power

[OE. pouer, poer, OF. poeir, pooir, F. pouvoir, n. & v., fr. LL. potere, for L. posse, potesse, to be able, to have power. See Possible, Potent, and cf. Posse comitatus.]

Webster 1913 exact record

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