per

The word 'per' entered English in the late Middle English period, borrowed directly from the Latin preposition 'per', meaning "through, by means of, by, during". The Latin term itself is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root per-, a prolific root with a core meaning of "forward, through, before". This root gave rise to a vast family of words across Indo-European languages related to traversal and precedence. In English, 'per' retains its essential Latin senses, primarily used to denote distribution ("per day") or agency ("sent per post"). Its concise, precise nature has made it a staple in formal, commercial, and technical contexts.

This word is a simplex loanword from Latin. It functions as a preposition in English, directly adopted from its Latin counterpart.