Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To begin and carry through to completion; do.
  • intransitive verb To take action in accordance with the requirements of; fulfill.
  • intransitive verb To enact (a feat or role) before an audience.
  • intransitive verb To give a public presentation of; present.
  • intransitive verb To function or accomplish something as expected or required.
  • intransitive verb To yield a return on investment.
  • intransitive verb To portray a role or demonstrate a skill before an audience.
  • intransitive verb To present a dramatic or musical work or other entertainment before an audience.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To effect; execute; accomplish; achieve; carry on or out; do: as, to perform, an act of kindness or a deed of daring; to perform a day's labor; to perform an operation in surgery or in arithmetic.
  • To carry out or do whatever is demanded or required by (duty, a vow, etc.); execute the provisions, commands, or requirements of; put in execution; discharge; fulfil: as, to perform one's duty; to perform a vow; to perform a covenant.
  • To render; do.
  • To act or represent on or as on the stage: as, to perform the part of Hamlet.
  • To make up; constitute; complete.
  • To afford; furnish.
  • To sing, or render on a musical instrument.
  • To act; do or execute something.
  • To act a part; go through or complete any work; especially, to sing or play on a musical instrument, represent a character on the stage, etc.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To do, execute, or accomplish something; to acquit one's self in any business; esp., to represent sometimes by action; to act a part; to play on a musical instrument
  • transitive verb To carry through; to bring to completion; to achieve; to accomplish; to execute; to do.
  • transitive verb To discharge; to fulfill; to act up to
  • transitive verb To represent; to act; to play; as in drama.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To do something; to execute.
  • verb To do something in front of an audience, often in order to entertain it.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb carry out or perform an action
  • verb give a performance (of something)
  • verb get (something) done
  • verb perform a function

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English performen, from Anglo-Norman performer, from Old French parfornir : par-, intensive pref. (from Latin per-, per-) + fournir, to furnish; see furnish.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English performen, parfournen ("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 *frumjan (“to accomplish, furnish”), from Proto-Germanic *frumjanan, *framjanan (“to further, promote, accomplish, furnish, carry out”), 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"), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌾𐌰𐌽 (frumjan, "to promote, accomplish"). See also frame, from.

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Examples

  • Getting up early is one of the intelligent daily practices that Leaders Without a Title perform with acute consistency.

    The Leader Who Had No Title Robin Sharma 2010

  • They spent the fall touring behind their election-themed single "All Good Reasons" and were asked to play the Obama campaign official pre-debate rally in New York; it's not often a band of 20-somethings without a label perform on a main stage sandwiched between sets by

    JamBase 2009

  • Attentive teachers realize that one of the best predictors of how their students will perform is what they had for breakfast, if anything at all.

    Rothstein: Why teacher quality can't be only centerpiece of reform Valerie Strauss 2010

  • The only other launch vehicle activity NASA needs to perform is the remaining Shuttle flights.

    The Force Is Strong With This One - NASA Watch 2009

  • But seeing them perform is incredible, if not just for their music, but for the audience's reaction when they cut loose.

    Shannon Galpin: Progress in Afghanistan? The Youth Movement in Kabul Shannon Galpin 2010

  • They once again perform the story of a man and a woman who, after stepping into a time machine, are unable to hear a Black Eyed Peas song playing, and decide to ignore the music altogether and foxtrot to an entirely different rhythm while waiting in line for a midnight showing of "Rocky Horror Picture Show."

    Margaret Cho is out on 'Dancing with the Stars' while Michael Bolton comes back to sing Lisa de Moraes 2010

  • We saw George Carlin perform what would later become his last HBO special.

    Kristine Kathryn Rusch » 2009 » April 2009

  • Accordingly, the question whether the actual mortgages are likely to perform is relevant, and the mortgage documents are relevant.

    Discourse.net: DeLong: Geithner's Way or Mad Max 2009

  • I constantly make the argument on my blog that almost all work we now perform is unnecessary, but it never occurred to me, until that discussion, that this also means there a few consequences to a withdrawal from work entirely.

    An abused employee fights back. « 2010

  • Afterwards, however, I drove up to Boston to have dinner with was06066 and his husband, who are so delightful they also make my heart hurt a little, and then was06066 and I abandoned poor Chris and took off to see Buddy Miller, Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin, and Patty Griffin perform at the Orpheum.

    going once, going twice, mercy god, jesus christ treize64 2009

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