Perca 
tlto latter country, and made the type of the 
family I'ercidie. Sec perrli^. 
percale (F. pron. ppr-kiil'), H. [F. ; origin un- 
known.] A kind of French cambric, very close- 
ly and firmly woven, with a round thread, and 
containing more dressing than ordinary muslin, 
4386 
Till we ourselves see it with our own eyes, and perceive 
it by our own understanding, we are in the dark. Locke. 
I 'perceive yon have entered the Suburbs of Sparta al- 
ready, and that yon are in a fair way to get to the Town 
itself. Howell, Letters, ii. 40. 
2. Specifically, to come to know by direct ex- 
perception 
Say, the very essence of truth here is this clear percep- 
tibility or intelligibility. 
Cudvorth, Intellectual System, p. 718. 
2. Perception ; power of perceiving. [Rare.] 
The illumination is not so bright and fulgent as to ob- 
scure or extinguish all perceptibility of the reason. 
Dr. U. Mare. 
F ,i., rou . iuc of a real action of the object upon the mind perceptible (per-sep'ti-bl), . [< F '. perceptible 
,,n- Hi, ixhnl i>iTcalc is an English manufacture, (commonly upon the senses), though the know- = Sp. perceptible = Pg. perceptivel = It, percet- 
of less body than the French percale. led S e may be inferential ; know through exter- tibile, < LL. perceptilnlix, < L. percipere, pp. per- 
nal or internal intuition. ceptus, perceive: see perceive.] Capable of be- 
Yff in the air men not se me myght. 
And that thay mow not perceiue me to sight, 
I shall me appere vppon the erth playn. 
Rom. of Partenay (E. E. T. S.), 1. 3715. 
It was in Vallies that I did rhipflv nrreeine the T and An entity, whether perceptible or inferential, is either 
V^^^t^$^!tt*. rea ' r c0 U8 - ^<"A>, Fragment on Ontology, i. 1 1. 
trary, or side ways to that, according as the Valleys lay =Syn. Visible, discernible, noticeable. See sensible. 
pend up between the Mountains. perceptibleness (pi'i'-sep'ti-bl-nes), . The 
Dampier, Voyages, II. iii. 30. 
but without the glossy finish of dress or lining &*^j &**!& T^f" k ^ ow t b y vir t' ue 
s, made either white or printed. The 
tiled jicrcalv is an 
>ody than the Fr( 
percaline (per'ka-lin), . [< percale + -/ 
Cotton cloth with a very glossy surface, usual- 
ly dyed of a single color. 
A gray calico skirt and coarse petticoat of percaline. 
Harper's May., LXXVII. 740. 
percarbureted, percarburetted (per-kar'bu- 
ret-ed), a. [< per- + carbureted.] In cheni., 
combined with a maximum of carbon, 
percaset (per-kas'). *' [Also parcase ; ME. 
per cas, < OP.paroas, < ii.percasiim, by chance : 
ing perceived; capable of coming under the 
cognizance of the senses; perceivable; notice- 
able. 
Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching or feel- 
state or property of being perceptible ; percep- 
tibility 
*, <, vr.pm , <. L,. prrct,*,,,,,, by c lance : lng are words that expresJ the operations prope? to each mram&U* fnpr ser/ti bm rf Tn vnpr, 
per, by ; casus, chance: see per and easel.] p er . sense; perceiving expresses that which is common to them PSJyWWW* U oil), aav. in a peicep- 
haps; perchance, all. KM. tlble manner ; in a degree or to an amount that 
aps; perchance. 
That he hath distroid that faire place 
Off Maillers by hys misdoing, percas 
Yut may he his pees full wel do to make. 
Jtom. of Partenay (E. E. T. s.), 1. 3521. 
Wot I not how hyt happede parcase. 
Chaucer, Good Women, 1. 1967. 
all Jteid. 
A man far-off might well perceive . . . 
The hard earth shake, and a low thunder of arms. 
COM I shall see theissege at Nwse [Neuss] 
Paston Letters, III. 122. 
Yea, and percase venturing you in perilous and desper- 
ate enterprises. Bacon, Advice to Essex (1596). 
percet, '. An obsolete form of pierce. 
perceablet, a. 
perceant (per 
persaunt 
see pierce.'] 
or archaic.] 
Wondrous quick and persaunt was his spright 
As Eagles eie that can behold the Sunne. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. x. 47. 
The sophist's eye, 
Like a sharp spear, went through her utterly. 
Keen, cruel, perceant, stinging. Keats, Lamia ii 
tible manner; in a degree or to an amount that 
may be perceived or noticed. 
perception (per-sep'shon), n. [< F. perception 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. = Sp percepcion = Pg'.'percepc So = It, percezi- 
When we talk of perceiving we generally refer to know- one, < L. perceptio(n-) , areceiving or collecting, 
>$ tSt'rL^L.riL'i'^filtf 0118 ' 8en8es > perception, comprehension, <percipere, pp. per- 
ceptus, obtain, perceive: see perceire.] 1. Origi- 
nally, and most commonly down to the middle 
of the eighteenth century, cognition; thought 
and sense in general, whether the faculty, the 
Which estimation they have gained among weak per- ?Pe r . a . tion ,',,r * h ?. resulting idea. Most psycholo- 
J. Sully, Outlines of Psycho)., p. 154. 
= Syn. Observe, Notice, etc. See see. 
perceiver (per-se'ver), . [< perceive + -er 1 .] 
One who perceives, feels, or observes. 
ceivers. 
perceiverancet 
linpd ttmnn wpok n*r "f ci "'K Ulea. Most psycnolo- 
MUlon Tet'?orJ' K - i8t8 8ince Plato had made two departments of mental ac- 
um, l e ion. tion the orectic and the 8peculative . the , atter wag cal]ed 
[Also perseverance (a cor- perception, but it did not include belief founded on tes- 
For his diet he [Ariosto] was very temperate, and a great 
enemy of excess and surfeiting, and so careless of delicates 
as though he had no perseverance in the tastes of meats. 
Sir J. Harington, Life of Ariosto, p. 418 (quoted in Trench). 
2. Appearance perceived. 
He [iEmiliiu Paulus] suddenly fell into a raving (with- 
out any perseverance of sickness spied in him before, or 
tion in him . . .), and his wits i 
_ - jrt that he died three days after. 
North, tr. of Plutarch's Lives, p. 221 (quoted in Trench). 
Bacon. 
[The Hobbesians) stoutly contending that we have not 
the perception of anything but the phantasms of material 
objects, and of sensible words or marks, which we make to 
stand for such objects. Dr. H. More, Immortality of Soul. 
The two great and principal actions of the mind, . 
perception, or thinking, and volition, or willing. 
Locke, Human Understanding, II. vl. 2. 
All the perceptions of the human mind resolve themselves 
into two distinct kinds, which I shall call impressions and 
ideas. Hume, Treatise of Human Nature, I. L 1. 
ideas. 
, -r, om smy perseverance o 
percee (per-sa ), a. [i . perce, pp. of percer, any change or alteration in him ."..), and his wit* went 
pierce: see pierce.] In her., pierced, especially from him in such sort '' 
with a round hole in the middle. North > tr - of p 'ta* 
perceivable (per-se'va-bl), a. [< OF. percevable, percelt, . An obsolete form of parcel. ,,- f , 
<percei-er, perceive: see perceive and -able.] 1. percellet, . A Middle English form of pars- construction of the imagination, of gaining 
Capable of being perceived; capable of fall- ley. knowledge by virtue of a real action of an ob- 
ing under perception or the cognizance of the percelmelt, adi: A Middle English form of Ject upon the mind. It includes the first sensation 
senses ; perceptible. parcel-meal. lts objectification, its location, its intuitive assimilation 
^tt^&*^XSX&Z3X f5St& '" ^ Middle English form of ^^ ^^^^^^^^K 
ly m the samestate for jJsfea*^-|SS percentage (per-sen'taj), . Kper cent. + .aae.] -'- "SEM^SS %&& ^ ** 
t) PO M v, Bate or proportion per hundred : as, the ner- 
2. Capable of be.ng known or understood. een t aae of loss; ihe percentage of oxygen in 
Whatsoever Isperceivable either by sense or by the mind, some compound, or of pure metal in an ore- 
Cud t oorth, Intellectual System, p. 446. specifically, in com., an allowance, duty, com- 
perceivably (per-se'va-bh), arfn. In a perceiv- mission, or rate of interest on a hundred; 
>le manner; so as to be perceivable; per- loosely, proportion in general. 
perceivancet (per-se'vans), n. [< OF. perce- ^o^i^^^r^^'^^^^ 1 ^^- 
vance, perception. < percever, perceive : see per- Aldrich, Ponkapog to Pesth, p. 87. 
Power of perceiving; pereep- percentile (per-sen'til), a. and . [< percen- 
t(aye) + -He.] I. a. In percentage: as, percen- 
tile measurement. 
II. n. See the first quotation. 
The value that is unreached by n per cent, of any large 
oup of measurements, and surpassed by 100 n [per 
Item, is called its nth percentile. 
Jour. Anthrop. Init., XIV. 277. 
2. The mental faculty, operation, or resulting 
sense. 
Perception . . . being the first step and degree toward 
knowledge, and the inlet of all the materials of it. 
Locke, Human Understanding, II. ix. 15. 
Perception is most properly applied to the evidence we 
have of external objects by our senses. 
tion. 
Perception is a complex mental act or process. More 
particularly, perception is that process by which the mind 
after discriminating and identifying a sense impression 
(simple or complex), supplements it by an accompaniment 
Why, this is wondrous, being blind of sight, 
His deep perceivance should be such to know us. 
Greene, George-a-Greene. 
His particular end in every man is, by the infliction of 
pain, dammage, and disgrace, that the senses and common 
perceimnce might carry this message to the soul within 
that it is neither easeful!, profitable, nor praisewo-thy hi 
this life to doe evill. Milton, Church-Government, ii. 3. 
perceive (per-se v' ), ;. t. ; pret. and pp. perceived, 
ppr. perceiving. 
OF. 'perceivre ^ f 
etc., also percever t percevoif,parcevo'ir*. perce'- eter - 
1 ? = Sp.percebir,percibir = Pg. percept (per'sept), . 
The data were published in the Journal of this Insti- 
tute as a table of percentiles. Nature, '.' 
grated " into the form of a percept that is, an apparently 
immediate apprehension or cognition of an object now 
present in a particular locality or region of space. 
J. Sully, Outlines of Psychol., p. 152. 
The manner in which the constituent elements in a per- 
ception are combined differs materially from what is strict- 
ly to be called the association of ideas. To realize this 
difference we need only to observe first how the sight of 
a suit of polished armour, for example, instantly reinstates 
and steadily maintains all that we retain of former sensa- 
tions of its hardness and smoothness and coldness and 
'. [< ME. perceii-en, perceyren, < percent, tube. An instrument for measuring tnen to observe how this same sight gradually calisUp 
, percoivre, parceivre, percevire, tne percentage of cream in milk. See lactom- idea s now of tournaments, now of crusades, and so through 
tier, nfrmmir ,././,/>,*. w e.ter. a 'l the changing imagery of romance. 
[< L. perceptum, neut. 3. ^ immediate judgm^nTfonndeTon^ense 
Cf. conceive, deceive, receive.] 1. In general, to used by modern psychologists. 
become aware of; gain a knowledge of (some 
object or fact). 
ISion. Thus, we are said to recognize our friends by 
, , ' ^ "' perception. Also, mathematical, esthetic, and moral judg. 
analysis of perception has suggested the way in menta founded on direct observation of imaginary or ideal 
which our percepts are gradually built up and perfected. objects are called perceptiotw 
Whan she it perceyved she eschewed to come in his pros- Jm SuUy < Outline s of Psychol., p. 209. 
nee, for she was right a gode lady, and full of gretebewte, - Jon ( a form expressing action or an active faculty)- 
1 right trewe a-geins hir lorde. "perception," "conception," "imagination" "deditc- 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), i. 64. _ n > "_^fVfob^ion." Some of these words express also 
But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said Whv 
tempt ye me, ye hypocrites ? Mat xxii 18 
18 
The king in this perceives him, how he coasts 
And hedges his own way. 
Skate., Hen. VIII., iii. 2. 38. 
perceptibility (per-sep-ti-bil'i-ti), n. [< F. per- 
ceptibilite = Pr. percipilitat = Pg. perceptibili- 
dade; as perceptible + -ity (see -bility).] 1. The 
property of being perceptible : as, the percepti- 
bility of light or color. 
It is admitted on all sides that the perception of an ob- 
jcct necessarily implies the recognition of the object as 
this or that, as like certain objects, and as unlike certain 
otherobjects. Every act of perception, therefore, involves 
classification. J. Fiske, Cosmic Philos., II. 107. 
Her physical organization, being at once delicate and 
healthy, gave her a perception, operating with almost the 
effect of a spiritual medium, that somebody was near at 
na nd. Hawthorne, Seven Gables, vi. 
A great method is always within the perceptional many 
before it is within the grasp of one. De Moryan. 
Perhaps the quality specially needed for drawing the 
right conclusion from the facts, when one has got them, 
is best called perception, delicacy of perception. 
M. Arnold, Literature and Dogma, Preface. 
