Dictionary

Percy en · NOUN

Pronunciation

/ˈpɜːsi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
(Southern-England) audio
/ˈpɜɹsi/ (General-American)

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.

Meanings

(also, attributive, derogatory, slang) A male person regarded as unmanly or weak; a sissy.
- He never palliated his villainy, never helped old ladies across the street to show that he was a sweet kid au fond or prated about his Oedipus complex like the Percy boys who portray heavies today. 1957, S[idney] J[oseph] Perelman, “Cloudland Revisited: Vintage Swine”, in The Road to Miltown: Or, Under the Spreading Atrophy (A Touchstone Book), 1st Touchstone paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, published 1971, →ISBN, page 88:
- The military arm is considerably bothered by the problem of what to do with him [the conscientious objector]. It tacitly invites the rank and file to have a lark with him in barracks, in the hope that if he is bullied and told that he will be shot next morning, and mobbed and pilloried and photographed in The Daily Sketch as Percy (all Percies are now—shade of Hotspur!—supposed to be cowards) he will, perhaps, stop giving trouble. 1915 May 27, [George] Bernard Shaw, “The Conscientious Objector: Conscientious Objectors”, in What I Really Wrote about the War, standard edition, London: Constable and Company, published 1931, →OCLC, page 226:
(also, attributive, derogatory, historical, slang) A male conscientious objector.
(also, attributive, derogatory, slang) An educated soldier; specifically, an officer.
- ["]I must admit I'm not terribly good at figures." / "Never met an officer as was," said Sam. "Most of the young Percies in our mob had to take their boots off to count up to twenty. But don't worry about that. Aunty'll give you the figures. She's got 'em all in her head, like a bleedin' adding machine. It's her handwriting and spelling that gets everybody down. It's soddin' awful she can't read it herself five minutes after." 1974, Berkely Mather [pseudonym; John Evan Weston-Davies], chapter 21, in The White Dacoit, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →ISBN, page 196:
(Australia, UK, humorous, slang) Chiefly in point Percy at the porcelain: the penis.

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
Percies	Number=Plur		lexicographic

Percy en · PROPN

Pronunciation

/ˈpɜːsi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
(Southern-England) audio
/ˈpɜɹsi/ (General-American)

Etymology

Meanings

An English surname from Old French.
- Hot[spur]. My name is Harry Percy. / Pr[ince]. VVhy then I ſee / A very valiant rebel of that name; / I am the Prince of VVales, and thinke not Percy / To ſhare vvith me in glory any more: / Tvvo ſtars keepe not their motion in one ſphere, / Nor can one England brooke a double raigne / Of Harry Percy and the Prince of VVales. c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv], signature K2, verso:
A male given name transferred from the surname or from a clipping of Percival, of Middle Ages and later usage.
- Speaking of Sligo, I have written again to ask if I may visit there sometime soon, and talk to the administrator, who it turns out is an old acquaintance, a man called Percival Quinn, I think the only Percy I have heard of in the present era, let alone met. […] [T]here may be other files there that even Percy feels can't be communicated, but I don't know. 2008, Sebastian Barry, chapter 16, in The Secret Scripture […], London: Faber and Faber, →ISBN, pages 198–199:
A place name: ▸ A commune in Isère department, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France.
A place name: ▸ A village in Manche department, Normandy, France.
A place name: ▸ A township in Kittson County, Minnesota, United States.
A place name: ▸ An unincorporated community in Washington County, Mississippi, United States.
A place name: ▸ A village in Randolph County, Illinois, United States.

Deriveds

Percy Main · Percabeth · Bolton Percy · Kilnwick Percy

Translations (2)

el Πέρσι (English surname; male given name) · fr Percy (English surname; male given name)

wikipedia: Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland · wikipedia: Gallo-Roman

Percy en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Meanings

Forms

Antonyms

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Percy en · PROPN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Meanings

Deriveds

Translations (2)