perch

See also: Perch

English

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /pɜːtʃ/
  • (US) IPA(key): /pɝtʃ/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tʃ

Etymology 1

From Middle English perche, from Old French perche, from Latin perca, from Ancient Greek πέρκη (pérkē, “perch”), cognate with περκνός (perknós, “dark-spotted”).

Noun
yellow perch (Perca flavescens)

perch (plural perches or perch)

  1. Any of the three species of spiny-finned freshwater fish in the genus Perca.
  2. Any of the about 200 related species of fish in the taxonomic family Percidae, especially:
    1. (South Africa) Acanthopagrus berda
    2. (Ghana) Distichodus engycephalus, Distichodus rostratus
    3. (Australia) Johnius belangerii, Macquaria ambigua, Macquaria colonorum, Macquaria novemaculeat, Nemadactylus macropterus
    4. (US) Kyphosus azureus
    5. (Britain) Lateolabrax japonicus, Tautogolabrus adspersus
  3. Several similar species in the order Perciformes, such as the grouper.
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

Etymology 2

From Middle English perche, from Old French perche, from Latin pertica (“staff”, “long pole”, “measuring rod”).

Noun

perch (plural perches or perch)

  1. a rod, staff, or branch of a tree etc used as a roost by a bird
    • Tennyson
      Not making his high place the lawless perch / Of winged ambitions.
  2. a pole connecting the fore gear and hind gear of a spring carriage; a reach.
  3. (figuratively) a position that is secure and advantageous, especially one which is prominent or elevated
  4. (figuratively) a position that is overly elevated or haughty
    • 1613, John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi‎, II, iv:
      You may thank me, lady:
      I have taken you off your melancholy perch,
      Bore you upon my fist, and show'd you game,
      And let you fly at it.
      I pray thee kiss me.
  5. (dated) a linear measure of 5½ yards, equal to a rod, a pole or ¼ chain; the related square measure
  6. a cubic measure of stonework equal to 16.6 × 1.5 × 1 feet
  7. (textiles) a frame used to examine cloth
  8. a bar used to support a candle (especially in a church)
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

perch (third-person singular simple present perches, present participle perching, simple past and past participle perched)

  1. (intransitive) To rest on (or as if on) a perch; to roost.
  2. (intransitive) To stay in an elevated position.
  3. (transitive) To place something on (or as if on) a perch.
    • 2012 September 7, Dominic Fifield, “England start World Cup campaign with five-goal romp against Moldova”, in The Guardian‎:
      The most obvious beneficiary of the visitors' superiority was Frank Lampard. By the end of the night he was perched 13th in the list of England's most prolific goalscorers, having leapfrogged Sir Geoff Hurst to score his 24th and 25th international goals. No other player has managed more than the Chelsea midfielder's 11 in World Cup qualification ties, with this a display to roll back the years.
  4. (transitive, intransitive, textiles) To inspect cloth using a perch.
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

Middle English

Noun

perch

  1. Alternative form of perche (“pole”)
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