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per·ish (pĕrĭsh)
Share:
v. per·ished, per·ish·ing, per·ish·es
v.intr.
1. To die or be destroyed, especially in a violent or untimely manner: "Must then a Christ perish in torment in every age to save those who have no imagination?" (George Bernard Shaw).
2. To pass from existence; disappear gradually: "Man will go down into the pit, and all his thoughts will perish" (A.J. Balfour).
3. Chiefly British To spoil or deteriorate.
v.tr.
To bring to destruction; destroy: "Many foul blights / Perish'd his hard won gains" (Thomas Hood).
Idiom:
perish the thought
Used to express the wish that one not even think about something.
[Middle English perishen, from Old French perir, periss-, to perish, from Latin perīre : per-, per- + īre, to go; see ei- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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