Online Etymology Dictionary

performative: 1955, adjective and noun, coined by British philosopher of language J.L. Austin (1911-1960), from perform + -ive.
performer (n.): 1580s, agent noun from perform (v.). Theatrical sense is from 1711.
perfume (n.): 1530s, "fumes from a burning substance," from Middle French parfum (16c.), from parfumer "to scent," from Old Provençal perfumar or cognate words in dialectal Italian (perfumare) or Spanish (perfumar), from Latin per- "through" (see per) + fumare "to smoke" (see fume (n.)). Meaning "fluid containing agreeable essences of flowers, etc.," is attested from 1540s.
perfume (v.): 1530s, "to fill with smoke or vapor," from perfume (n.) or from Middle French parfumer. Meaning "to impart a sweet scent to" is from 1530s. Related: Perfumed; perfuming.
perfunctory (adj.): 1580s, from Late Latin perfunctorius "careless, negligent," literally "like one who wishes to get through a thing," from Latin perfungus, past participle of perfungi "discharge, busy oneself, get through," from per- "through" + fungi "perform" (see function (n.)). Related: Perfunctorily.
perfuse (v.): 1520s, from Latin perfusus, past participle of perfundere "to pour over, besprinkle," from per- + fundere (see found (v.2)).
perfusion (n.): 1570s, from Middle French perfusion and directly from Latin perfusionem (nominative perfusio) "a pouring over," noun of action from past participle stem of perfundere "pour out," from per- "throughout" (see per) + fundere "pour" (see found (v.2)).
pergola (n.): latticework structure for climbing plants, 1670s, from Italian pergola, from Latin pergula "school, lecture room; projecting roof, vine arbor," of uncertain origin; perhaps from pergere "to come forward."
perhaps (adv.): 1520s, formed from Middle English per, par "by, through" (see per-) + plural of hap "chance" (see happen), on model of peradventure, perchance, etc. which now have been superseded by this word. Perhappons "possibly, by chance" is recorded from late 15c.
peri (n.): 1777, from Persian pari, from Avestan pairika. Race of superhuman female beings originally represented as malevolent, later as angelic genii (cf. sense evolution of English fairy, to which it is not related).
peri-: word-forming element meaning "around, about, enclosing," from Greek peri (prep.) "around, about, beyond," cognate with Sanskrit pari "around, about, through," Latin per, from PIE *per- (1) "forward, through" (see per).
perianth (n.): "envelope of a flower," 1706, from French périanthe, from Modern Latin perianthium (17c.), literally "that which is round the flower," from peri- (see peri-) + Greek anthos "flower" (see anther).
pericarditis (n.): 1799, from pericardium + -itis.
pericardium (n.): early 15c., Latinized form of Greek perikardion "(membrane) around the heart" (Galen), from peri (prep.) "around, about" (see peri-) + kardia "heart" (see heart). Related: Pericardiac.
Pericles: Athenian statesman (c.495-429 B.C.E.), from Greek Perikles, literally "far-famed," from peri "all around" (see peri-) + -kles "fame" (see Damocles). His leadership of Athens marks its intellectual and material zenith. Related: Periclean.
pericope (n.): 1650s, from Late Latin pericope "section of a book," from Greek perikope "a section" of a book, literally "a cutting all round," from peri- "around" (see peri-) + kope "a cutting" (see hatchet).
peridot (n.): type of gemstone, mid-14c. (mid-13c. in Anglo-Latin), from Old French peritot (early 13c., Modern French péridot), of unknown origin.
perigee (n.): "point at which a celestial body is nearest the Earth," 1590s, from Modern Latin perigeum (15c.), from Late Greek peregeion, used by Ptolemy as a noun, properly neuter of adjective perigeios "near the earth," from peri ges, from peri "near" (see peri-) + ges, genitive of ge "earth" (see Gaia).
perihelion (n.): "point at which a celestial body is nearest the Sun," 1680s, coined in Modern Latin (perihelium) by Kepler (1596) from Latinizations of Greek peri "near" (see peri-) + helios "sun" (see sol). Subsequently re-Greeked.
peril (n.): c.1200, from Old French peril "danger, risk" (10c.), from Latin periculum "an attempt, trial, experiment; risk, danger," with instrumentive suffix -culum and element also found in experiri "to try," cognate with Greek peria "trial, attempt, experience," empeiros "experienced," Old Irish aire "vigilance," Gothic ferja "watcher," Old English fær "danger, fear" (see fear (n.)).
perilous (adj.): c.1300, from Old French perillos "perilous, dangerous" (Modern French périlleux) "dangerous, hazardous," from Latin periculosus "dangerous, hazardous," from periculum "a danger, attempt, risk" (see peril). Related: Perilously; perilousness.
perimeter (n.): early 15c., "line around a figure or surface," from Latin perimetros, from Greek perimetron "circumference," from peri- "around" (see peri-) + metron "measure" (see meter (n.2)). Military sense of "boundary of a defended position" is attested from 1943.
perinatal (adj.): 1952, from peri- + natal.
perineum (n.): "region of the body between the anus and the genital organs" (jocularly called a taint), early 15c., from Medieval Latin perinaeon, Late Latin perineum, from Greek perinaion, perinaios, from peri- "near" (see peri-) + inan "to carry off by evacuation," of unknown origin.
period (n.): early 15c., "course or extent of time," from Middle French periode (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin periodus "recurring portion, cycle," from Latin periodus "a complete sentence," also "cycle of the Greek games," from Greek periodos "cycle, circuit, period of time," literally "a going around," from peri- "around" (see peri-) + hodos "a going, way, journey" (see cede).

Sense of "repeated cycle of events" led to that of "interval of time." Meaning "dot marking end of a sentence" first recorded c.1600, from similar use in Medieval Latin (in late 16c. English it meant "full pause at the end of a sentence"). Sense of "menstruation" dates from 1822. Educational sense of "portion of time set apart for a lesson" is from 1876. Sporting sense attested from 1898. As an adjective from 1905; period piece attested from 1911.
periodic (adj.): 1640s, from French périodique (14c.), from Latin periodicus, from periodus (see period).

Periodic table in chemistry (1889) is from notion of the arrangement, in which similar properties recur at intervals in elements in the same area as you read down the rows of the table. This sense of the word is attested from 1872 (periodic law).
periodical (adj.): c.1600, from periodic + -al (1). As a noun meaning "magazine published at regular intervals," attested from 1798. Related: Periodically.
periodicity (n.): 1805, from French périodicité (1796), from périodique, from Latin periodicus (see periodic).
periodontal (adj.): 1848, literally "around the tooth," from peri- + Greek odon (genitive odontos) "tooth" (see tooth).
periodontics (n.): 1948, from periodontia (1914; see periodontal) + -ics. Periodontic (adj.) is attested by 1889.
periodontist (n.): 1913; see periodontal + -ist.
periodontitis (n.): 1842; see periodontal + -itis.
periodontium (n.): 1828; see periodontal.
periorbital (adj.): 1838, from medical Latin periorbita, a hybrid from Greek peri (see peri-) + Latin orbita (see orbit).
periosteum (n.): 1590s, from Modern Latin periosteum, Late Latin periosteon, from Greek periosteon, neuter of periosteos "round the bones," from peri- (see peri-) + osteon (see osseous).
peripatetic (n.): c.1400, "disciple of Aristotle," from Old French perypatetique (14c.), from Latin peripateticus "pertaining to the disciples or philosophy of Aristotle," from Greek peripatetikos "given to walking about" (especially while teaching), from peripatein "walk up and down, walk about," from peri- "around" (see peri-) + patein "to walk, tread" (see find (v.)). Aristotle's custom was to teach while strolling through the Lyceum in Athens. In English, the philosophical meaning is older than that of "person who wanders about" (1610s).
peripatetic (adj.): 1560s in the philosophical sense, 1640s in the literal sense; see peripatetic (n.).
peripeteia (n.): also peripetia, 1590s, from Greek peripeteia "a turn right about; a sudden change" (of fortune, in a tragedy), from peri- "around" (see peri-) + stem of piptein "to fall" (see symptom).
peripheral (adj.): 1803, from periphery + -al (1). An earlier formation was peripherial (1670s). Related: Peripherally. As a noun, peripherals, "peripheral devices of a computer," is from 1966.
periphery (n.): late 14c., "atmosphere around the earth," from Old French periferie (Modern French périphérie), from Medieval Latin periferia, from Late Latin peripheria, from Greek peripheria "circumference, outer surface, line round a circular body," literally "a carrying around," from peripheres "rounded, moving round, revolving," peripherein "carry or move round," from peri- "round about" (see peri-) + pherein "to carry" (see infer). Meaning "outside boundary of a surface" attested in English from 1570s; general sense of "boundary" is from 1660s.
periphrasis (n.): 1530s, from Latin periphrasis "circumlocution," from Greek periphrasis, from periphrazein "speak in a roundabout way," from peri- "round about" (see peri-) + phrazein "to express" (see phrase (n.)).
periphrastic (adj.): 1805, from French périphrastique and directly from Greek periphrastikos, from periphrazein (see periphrasis). Related: Periphrastical (1630s).
periscope (n.): viewing apparatus on a submarine, 1899, formed in English from peri- "around" + -scope "instrument for viewing." Earlier (1865) a technical term in photography. Related: Periscopic.
perish (v.): mid-13c., from periss- present participle stem of Old French perir "perish, be lost, be shipwrecked" (12c.), from Latin perire "to be lost, perish," literally "to go through," from per- "through, completely, to destruction" (see per) + ire "to go" (see ion). Related: Perished; perishing.
perishable (adj.): late 15c., perysabyl, from Middle French périssable, and later (in modern form), 1610s, directly from perish + -able. As a noun, perishables, in reference to foodstuffs, is attested from 1895.
peristalsis (n.): 1859, Modern Latin peristalsis; see peristaltic.
peristaltic (adj.): 1650s, from Modern Latin, from Greek peristaltikos (Galen), literally "contracting around," from peri (see peri-) "around, about" + stalsis "checking, constriction," related to stellein "draw in, bring together; set in order" (see diastole).
peristyle (n.): 1610s, from French péristyle "row of columns surrounding a building" (mid-16c.), from Latin peristylum, from Greek peristylon "colonnade around a temple or court," noun use of neuter of peristylos "surrounded with a colonnade," from peri- "around" (see peri-) + stylos "pillar" (see stet).
peritoneum (n.): early 15c., from Late Latin peritonaeum, from Greek peritonaion "abdominal membrane," literally "part stretched over," noun use of neuter of peritonaios "stretched over," from peri- "around" (see peri-) + teinein "to stretch" (see tenet). Related: Peritoneal.
peritonitis (n.): 1776, medical Latin, coined c.1750 by French pathologist François-Boissier de la Croix de Sauvages (1706-1767) from Greek peritonos (from peritonaion; see peritoneum) + -itis.