PER


Meaning of PER in English

/perr/ ; unstressed /peuhr/ , prep.

1. for each; for every: Membership costs ten dollars per year. This cloth is two dollars per yard.

2. by means of; by; through: I am sending the recipe per messenger.

3. according to; in accordance with: I delivered the box per your instructions.

adv.

4. Informal. each; for each one: The charge for window-washing was five dollars per.

[ 1580-90; ]

Usage . PER for a or an or for each occurs chiefly in technical or statistical contexts: miles per gallon; work-hours per week; feet per second; gallons of beer per person per year. It is also common in sports commentary: He averaged 16 points per quarter. PER is sometimes criticized in business writing in the sense "according to" and is rare in literary writing.

Random House Webster's Unabridged English dictionary.      Полный английский словарь Вебстер - Random House .