▪ I. † perry1, pery, pirie Obs.
Forms: α. 1 piriᵹe, pirᵹe, pyriᵹe, 1–5 pirie, pyrie, 5 pire, piry(e, pyry(e, pirry, purye, 7 pyrrie. β. 4–5 perie, -y(e, 5 pere, pereye, 6 perrie, perrey (pearie).
[OE. pirᵹe, piriᵹe, pirie, pyrie, wk. fem., of obscure formation, taken by Pogatscher to represent a late L. type *pirea, *pērea (sc. arbor tree), from a late L. adj. *pire-us, *pēre-us, f. pirum, Rom. pēra pear. (But no trace of such adj. has been found in L. or Rom.)
The historical series piriᵹe, pirie, perie, perrie, *perry, is exactly parallel to that of miriᵹe, mirie, merie, merrie, merry, the i in both becoming e before r, which again was doubled after the short vowel.]
A pear-tree; sometimes distinctively the wild pear-tree. Also attrib.
| 937 in Birch Cart. Sax. II. 429 Þanon..up on stream..midde weardne up on þa pyrian. 972 Ibid. III. 586 And⁓lang dic on þa pyriᵹan of þære pyriᵹan on þone longan apuldre. c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 137/37 Pirus, piriᵹe. ― Gram. vii. (Z.) 20 Hæc pirus þeos pyriᵹe, hoc pirum seo peru. 13.. Seuyn Sag. (W.) 555 A fair gardin,..Ful of appel tres, and als of pirie; Foules songe therinne murie. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 16 Piries and Plomtres weore passchet to þe grounde. c 1386 Chaucer Merch. T. 937 Thus I lete hym sitte vp on the pyrie [v. rr. purye, pyrye, Pyry, pirry, pire, pirie]. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. ii. (Tollem. MS.), As whan a pery is graffid on an appeltre. a 1425 Cursor M. 37 (Trin.) Of good pire com gode perus. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 603/11 Piretum, anglice Pereye. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. (1586) 87 b, You may graffe the Apple upon the Perrey, the Hawthorne, Plome tree, Servisse tree,..Poplar, Willowe and Peare. 1578 Lyte Dodoens vi. xxxi. 697 High as a Perrie, or wilde Peare tree. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 474 There be some Pyrries and Apple trees that bring forth fruit twice a yeare. |
| attrib. 14.. Songs & Carols xxxi. (Warton Cl.), To gryffyn here a gryf of myn pery tre. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §137 A pere or a wardeyn wold be graffed in a pyrre stock. 1586 W. Webbe Eng. Poetrie (Arb.) 76 Now Melibœe ingraft pearie stocks, sette vines in an order. 1603 Stow Surv. 48 That he should buy certaine perie plants. |
▪ II. perry2
(ˈpɛrɪ)
Forms: 4 pereye, ? piri, 5 peirrie, pirre, 5–6 perre, pirrey, 6 perie, pirrie, 6–7 pery(e, perrie, 7 perrey, pyrrey, -ie, piry, 6– perry.
[ME. pereye, a. OF. peré (13–16th c.), perey (14th c. in Godef.):—late L. type *pērātum, f. late L. pēra = L. pirum pear.]
A beverage resembling cider, made from the juice of pears expressed and fermented.
| c 1315 Shoreham Poems i. 205 Ine wine me ne may, Inne siþere, ne inne pereye [rime reneye]. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 134 Peni Ale and piriwhit heo pourede to-gedere. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 394/1 Perre, drynke, piretum. c 1480 Henryson Test. Cres. 441 Tak mowlit breid, peirrie, and ceder sour. 1483 Cath. Angl. 281/2 Pirrey (Pirre), piretum. 1577 Harrison England ii. vi. (1877) i. 161 A kind of drinke made..of peares is named pirrie. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 1197/1 Botes laden with wine, cider, perrie. 1623 Lisle ælfric on O. & N. Test. Ded. xxxiv, Syd'r in Kent,..Pyrrie in Wostersheere. 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. I. 117 The great Pear plantations, planted for the making of Perry in those places where Vines cannot prosper. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. viii. 319 Excise..at first laid upon..the makers and venders of beer, ale, cyder, and perry. 1840 Cottager's Man. 5 in Libr. U. Kn., Husb. III, Cider, perry, wines..might easily be obtained by an additional half acre. |
b. attrib. and Comb. as perry farmer, perry pear.
| 1836 Penny Cycl. V. 250 The cider and perry farmer will feel the benefit of this. 1896 Jrnl. R. Horticult. Soc. Nov. 208 One of our oldest perry pears, the Longland, equals the well-known Catillac for stewing. |
▪ III. perry3
variant of perrie Obs., jewellery.
▪ IV. perry4
variant of pirrie, gust of wind.