performance, n.

Pronunciation: Brit. /pfmns/ , U.S. /prfrmns/ Forms: lME15 performaunce, 15 parformans, 15 parfourmaunce, 15 performans, 15 perfurmance, 1516 perfourmance, 15 performance, 16 perfformance, 16 performanc, 16 perfourmaunce; Sc. pre-17 parformance, pre-17 perfwrmance, pre-17 17 performance. Etymology: < classical Latin not, 2nd singular imperative of notre note v.2 Compare Middle French (rare) parformance (apparently only in two isolated attestations in the late 16th cent.; French performance (1839; < English)). With sense 1g compare competence n. 4f.

Both in Anglo-Norman (where they are much more frequent than in continental French) and in English, spellings with insertion of u or w after g are due to the influence of classical Latin lingua, as is the standard pronunciation of the English word. In Middle English the word was usually pronounced without /w/ ; the 16thcent. orthoepists Hart and Bullokar still record this pronunciation as the usual one, and it survives in Scots and Irish English, as shown e.g. by the spellings langidge , langige . See further E. J. Dobson Eng. Pronunc. 15001700 (ed. 2, 1968) II. 421 note 7.

I. 1. a. The action of one who writes, in various senses; the penning or forming of letters or words; the using of written characters for purposes of record, transmission of ideas, etc. Also with out.
?c1225 ( ?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 65 Of silence & of speche nis buten an lare. & for i inwritunge ha eorne ba togederes. 1362 Langland Piers Plowman A. iii. 61 For-i I lere ou, lordynges such writynge e leue, To writen in Wyndouwes of oure wel dedes.

b. at this (present) writing , at the time of writing this. Also up to this (..) writing. 2. a. Open to general observation, view, or knowledge; existing, performed, or carried out without concealment, so that all may see or hear. Of a person: that acts or performs in public.

1753 E. Chambers Cycl. Suppl. s.v., Burial of an ass, Asini sepultura, an ignominious kind of burial, out of holy ground,..and performed by public hangmen. 1758 S. Hayward Seventeen Serm. p. xiv, To think there is nothing in religion; by which means our public performances are despised. 1848 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. i. iii. 2 Such..is the labour of the musical performer, the actor, the public declaimer or reciter.

b. Observe, take note; placed at the head of a statement of which notice is to be taken. Freq. with that-clause. Cf. nota bene int. and n. 3. trans. a. To share (a thing) with others; to share out. Hence: to communicate or impart (information) to, unto; to make known. Cf. partake v. 2. Obs. b. To give or impart (a character) to. Obs. rare.
1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Thesaurarye Instruments Chirurg. in Frenche Chirurg. f. 10v/1, The Insculptor, or Ingravere..hath participated some propre, and perpolite fashone to the handle.

II. 1. The significance, purpose, underlying truth, etc., of something. a. That which is indicated or expressed by a (supposed) symbol or symbolic action; spec. a message, warning, idea, etc., supposed to be symbolized by a dream, vision, omen, etc. in meaning that: as a sign or token that (obs.). 2. An underlying and often distinct theme in a conversation, piece of writing, etc. Also in later use: spec. the subjective reality drawn on by a performer and underlying his or her interpretation of a role.
1950 E. R. Hapgood tr. C. Stanislavski Building Character viii. 113 What do we mean by subtext? What is it that lies behind and beneath the actual words of a part?.. It is the manifest, the inwardly felt expression of a human being in a part, which flows uninterruptedly beneath the words of the text, giving them life and a basis for existing.