Etymology

Proper noun senses 1 (surname) and 3 (place names) are derived from NormanCategory:English terms derived from Norman#PERCY Percy (“a baronial surname”), from Percy-en-Auge (“a place in Pays d’Auge, Normandy, France”, literally “Percy in Auge”), from Old FrenchCategory:English terms derived from Old French#PERCY Perci, from Late LatinCategory:English terms derived from Late Latin#PERCY Persiacum, from LatinCategory:English terms derived from Latin#PERCY Persius (“a Gallo-Roman nomen gentile”), from EtruscanCategory:English terms derived from Etruscan#PERCY 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)Category:English clippings#PERCY + -y (suffix forming familiar names)Category:English terms suffixed with -y (familiar)#PERCY.^[1]

The common noun is derived from the proper noun.^[2] Sense 2 (“penis”) is probably from the fact that Percy and penis begin with the same letter.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɜːsi/Category:English 2-syllable words#PERCYCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#PERCY

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#PERCY
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɜɹsi/Category:English 2-syllable words#PERCYCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#PERCY
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)siCategory:Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)si#PERCYCategory:Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)si/2 syllables#PERCY
• Hyphenation: Per‧cy

Proper noun

PercyCategory:English lemmas#PERCYCategory:English proper nouns#PERCYCategory:English uncountable nouns#PERCYCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#PERCYCategory:Pages with entries#PERCYCategory:Pages with 2 entries#PERCY

2. An English surname from Old FrenchCategory:English surnames#PERCYCategory:English surnames from Old French#PERCY.
   • 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:

     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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#PERCY

4. A male given name transferred from the surname or from a clipping of Percival, of Middle Ages and later usageCategory:English given names#PERCYCategory:English male given names#PERCYCategory:English male given names from surnames#PERCY.
   • 2008, Sebastian Barry, chapter 16, in The Secret Scripture […], London: Faber and Faber, →ISBN, pages 198–199:

     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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#PERCY

6. A place name:
   1. A commune in Isère department, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, FranceCategory:en:Communes of Isère, France#PERCYCategory:en:Places in Isère, France#PERCYCategory:en:Places in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France#PERCYCategory:en:Places in France#PERCY.
   2. A village in Manche department, Normandy, FranceCategory:en:Villages in Manche, France#PERCYCategory:en:Villages in Normandy, France#PERCYCategory:en:Places in Manche, France#PERCYCategory:en:Places in Normandy, France#PERCYCategory:en:Places in France#PERCY.
   3. A township in Kittson County, Minnesota, United StatesCategory:en:Townships#PERCYCategory:en:Places in Minnesota, USA#PERCYCategory:en:Places in the United States#PERCY.
   4. An unincorporated community in Washington County, Mississippi, United StatesCategory:en:Unincorporated communities in Mississippi, USA#PERCYCategory:en:Places in Mississippi, USA#PERCYCategory:en:Places in the United States#PERCY.
   5. A village in Randolph County, Illinois, United StatesCategory:en:Villages in Illinois, USA#PERCYCategory:en:Villages in the United States#PERCYCategory:en:Places in Illinois, USA#PERCYCategory:en:Places in the United States#PERCY.

Noun

Percy (plural Percies)Category:English lemmas#PERCYCategory:English nouns#PERCYCategory:English countable nouns#PERCYCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#PERCYCategory:Pages with entries#PERCYCategory:Pages with 2 entries#PERCY (slangCategory:English slang#PERCY)

1. (derogatoryCategory:English derogatory terms#PERCY, also attributive)
   1. A male person regarded as unmanly or weak; a sissy.

      (unmanly male person): Synonyms: (derogatory) nancy, (derogatory) pansy; see also Thesaurus:effeminate man

      (unmanly male person): Antonyms: see Thesaurus:hypermasculine man

      • 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:

        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.

        Category:English terms with quotations#PERCY

      • 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:

        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.

        Category:English terms with quotations#PERCY

   2. (historicalCategory:English terms with historical senses#PERCY) A male conscientious objector.
   3. (militaryCategory:en:Military#PERCY) An educated soldier; specifically, an officer.
      • 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:

        ["]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."

        Category:English terms with quotations#PERCY

3. (AustraliaCategory:Australian English#PERCY, UKCategory:British English#PERCY, humorousCategory:English humorous terms#PERCY) Chiefly in point Percy at the porcelain: the penis.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:penis

References

Further reading

• Percy on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Percy (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Pryce, crepy, crêpy, pryce

Etymology

From EnglishCategory:Swedish terms derived from English#PERCY Percy. First recorded as a Swedish given name in 1845. By folk etymology associated with Per (“Peter”).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

  Category:Swedish terms with audio pronunciation#PERCY

Proper noun

Percy c (genitive Percys)Category:Swedish lemmas#PERCYCategory:Swedish proper nouns#PERCYCategory:Swedish entries with incorrect language header#PERCYCategory:Swedish common-gender nouns#PERCYCategory:Pages with entries#PERCYCategory:Pages with 2 entries#PERCY

1. a male given nameCategory:Swedish given names#PERCYCategory:Swedish male given names#PERCY
   • 2010, Susanna Alakoski, Håpas du trifs bra i fengelset, Bonniers, →ISBN, page 117:

     Samipojkar skulle bli jobbare, det var ett bra yrke för sådana som hette Conny och Sonny också. […] Och på hjälputbildningar runt om i landet skojlärde vi oss Y-barnsregeln. Varning för alla namn som slutar på Y!: Ronny, Tommy, Billy, Tony, Eddy, Lenny, Jimmy, Benny, Jerry, Freddy.
     Så skojades det. Menades det, kanske.
     Men Percypojkarna blev ju sällan raggare och bråkstakar...
     Undantaget som bekräftade regeln, skojade vi på

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

     Category:Swedish terms with quotations#PERCYCategory:Requests for translations of Swedish quotations#PERCY