Percy

English dictionary entry

Meanings

name
  1. An English surname from Old French.
  2. A male given name transferred from the surname or from a clipping of Percival, of Middle Ages and later usage.
  3. A place name:
  4. A commune in Isère department, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France.
  5. A village in Manche department, Normandy, France.
  6. A township in Kittson County, Minnesota, United States.
  7. An unincorporated community in Washington County, Mississippi, United States.
  8. A village in Randolph County, Illinois, United States.
noun
  1. A male person regarded as unmanly or weak; a sissy.
  2. A male conscientious objector.
  3. An educated soldier; specifically, an officer.
  4. Chiefly in point Percy at the porcelain: the penis.
noun
  1. A unit of Percocet.

Pronunciation

/ˈpɜːsi/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Percy.wav /ˈpɜɹsi/ /ˈpɝki/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-perky.wav

Word forms

Percy Percies

Etymology

Proper noun senses 1 (surname) and 3 (place names) are derived from Norman Percy (“a baronial surname”), from Percy-en-Auge (“a place in Pays d’Auge, Normandy, France”, literally “Percy in Auge”), from Old French Perci, from Late Latin Persiacum, from Latin Persius (“a Gallo-Roman nomen gentile”), from Etruscan 𐌐𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (persu); further etymology uncertain, possibly from 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (φersu, “mask”). Proper noun sense 2 (given name) is either from the above, or is a clipping of Perc(ival) + -y (suffix forming familiar names). The common noun is derived from the proper noun. Sense 2 (“penis”) is probably from the fact that Percy and penis begin with the same letter.

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