English Explanatory Dictionary

Percival

English dictionary entry

Meanings

name
  1. A male given name from the Celtic languages.
  2. A surname originating as a patronymic.
  3. An unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fremont County, Iowa, United States.
  4. A former hamlet in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Pronunciation

/ˈpɜː(ɹ)sɪvəl/

Word forms

Percival Pursifull

Etymology

From Old French Perceval, name of a knight in a twelfth century Arthurian romance by the French poet Chrétien de Troyes. Shaped like Old French percier (“pierce”) + val (“valley”), but probably representing some Gaulish or Old Welsh name, possibly related to Welsh Peredur, from ber (“spear, lance”) (from Middle Welsh ber, from Proto-Brythonic *ber, from Proto-Celtic *beru (“spit”)) + dur (“hard metal, steel”) (see Latin durus). Cognate with German Parzival and Parsifal.

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