▪ I. pert, a. (n., adv.)
(pɜːt)
Forms: α. 3– pert, 4–7 perte, (6 perth, Sc. pairt). β. 5–6 (9 dial.) peert, 5–7 (9 dial.) peart, 6 peirt(e, pearte, pierte, 6–7 (9 dial.) piert.
[Aphetic f. apert, and, like it and OF. apert, partly repr. L. apertus, partly = OF. aspert, espert, L. expertus.
From 15th c. evidenced with a long vowel, peert, later peart, piert (pɪərt, piːrt), retained dialectally and in U.S., esp. in sense 6, as distinguished from the ordinary general English sense (4) of pert. Hence peart and pert are sometimes viewed as different words.]
A. adj. I. † 1. a. Open, unconcealed; manifest, evident; = apert a. 1, 2. Often opposed to privy. Obs.
In quot. 1330, aperte folie ought perh. to be read, but the Petyt MS. has it as printed.
| α c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 216 Hardely dar I say he did a perte folie. c 1350 Will. Palerne 4930 Þer come menskful messageres..from hire broþer partendo þat was hire pert broþer. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love iii. iii. (Skeat) I. 163 By no waie maie it be then through perte necessite. c 1460 Ros La belle Dame 174 (MS. Harl.) In hir failed nothyng..prive, or perte. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 162 Or priue or pert yf any bene, We han great Bandogs will teare their skinne. |
| β 1529 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. xiv. 255 That no persons..from hensforth occupye eny maner Shavyng, priuy or peirt on the Sondayes. |
† b. Open of countenance, frank. Obs.
| 1567 Drant Horace Epist. xviii. F vj, Be perte, and cleare in countinaunce, Not malipert, and light. |
† 2. Of personal appearance. a. (in early use) Beautiful. b. (later) Smart, spruce, dapper. Obs.
| α c 1400 Destr. Troy 542, I haue pittye of your person & your pert face. Ibid. 14039 Pyrrus, the pert kyng put vnto dethe Pantasilia the prise qwene, pertest of ladies. 1684 Otway Atheist iii. iii, He's so very little, pert and dapper. 1952 W. G. Hardy Unfulfilled iii. v. 246 Actually, as he looked her over, she was rather cute—slim young body and pert young breasts. |
| β 1596 P. Colse Penelope (1880) 167 A thousand prettie damsels peart. 1608 Day Law Trickes ii. (1881) 28 What think you of this Lady? would she not make a prettie peart Dutches? 1611 Cotgr., Godinet, prettie, dapper, feat, peart... Godinette, a prettie peart lasse. |
II. 3. † a. Expert, skilled; ready: = apert 4. Obs.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3292 Ðor quiles he weren in ðe desert, God taȝte hem weie, wis and pert. c 1330 King of Tars 18 Hire to seo was gret preyere Of princes pert in play. c 1500 Melusine xxxviii. 303 But geffray, that was pert in armes, smote with hys clubbe suche a stroke vpon the flayel, that he made it to flee out of the geantis handes. |
b. Quick to see and act, sharp, intelligent; adroit, clever. Obs. since 17th c. exc. in dial. form peart.
| α 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 531 Ane william francass, Wicht and pert, viss and curtass. c 1400 Destr. Troy 12044 Cassandra..Priams pure dughter, pertist of wit. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop ad fin., The mayster that was perte and quyck was anone promoted to a benefyce. c 1500 Melusine xix. 105 So pert & swyft they were. 1628 Feltham Resolves ii. [1.] xcii, Thus we see for Morality, Nature still is something pert and vigorous. 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 71 The acutest, and the pertest operations of wit and suttlety. |
| β 1586 J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 96/2 Perceiving that rough nets were not the fittest to take such peart birds. 1640 R. Baillie Canterb. Self-convict. ii. 12 Of so obscure and intricate a nature, that..our Assembly was to peart to make any determination about them. 1850 N. & Q. 1st Ser. II. 276/2 ‘I beant peart at making button⁓holes’, said a needle woman. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxi, She's such a peart young un, she won't take no lookin' arter. |
III. 4. a. Forward in speech and behaviour; unbecomingly ready to express an opinion or give a sharp reply; saucy, bordering upon ‘cheeky’; malapert: = apert 5. Said usually of children, young people, or persons in inferior position, such as are considered to be too ‘uppish’ or forward in their address. Now the ordinary sense.
| α c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 30 (Corpus MS.), And sche was proud and pert as is a pye [so 4 MSS.; 3 peert]. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour xiii. 18 Y saide y wolde not of her, for she was so pert and so light of maners. a 1529 Skelton Bowge of Courte 71 And sayde I was to blame To be so perte to prese so proudly uppe. 1530 Palsgr. 320/2 Perte saucy or homly, malapert. 1552 Huloet, Perte in makynge aunswere, argutus et argutulus. 1654 Jer. Taylor Real Pres. iv. 73 S. Hierome reproving certain pert Deacons for insulting over Priests. 1741 Richardson Pamela I. 36 Says Mrs. Jervis, Pamela, dont be pert to his Honour. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey ii. xiv, As pert a genius as the applause of a common-room ever yet spoiled. 1835 Southey in Corr. w. C. Bowles (1881) 319 Mrs. Barbauld was cold as her creed: her niece..pert as a pear-monger. 1858 Trench Stud. Words v, We have been obliged to make ‘pert’ do double duty, that of ‘malapert’ and its own. As some word is plainly wanting, not so strong as ‘insolent’, we have been led to employ ‘pert’ exclusively in an unfavourable sense. |
| β a 1430 Peert [see quot. c 1386 in α]. 1515 Barclay Egloges iii (1570) C ij b/2 Some be forgetfull, some peart, some insolent. 1593 Donne Sat. i. Poems (1630) 325 Though a briske perfum'd piert Courtier Deigne with a nod, thy courtesie to answer. 1835 C. F. Hoffman Winter in Far West I. 212 He looks so peert whenever he comes in. |
b. Of behaviour, speech, etc.
| 1681 Glanvill Sadducismus Pref., With a pert and pragmatique Insolence they censure all. 1702 Eng. Theophrast. 6 We admire the pert talk of children, because we expected nothing from them. 1835 Lytton Rienzi iv. i, The grave officer could not refrain a smile at the pert..answer of the boy. 1898 G. B. Shaw Candida i. 82 In a black merino skirt and a blouse, rather pert and quick of speech, and not very civil in her manner. 1924 ― St. Joan vi. 87 We are not so foolish as you think us. Try to resist the temptation to make pert replies to us. |
† c. As a vague expression of disfavour. Obs.
| a 1704 T. Brown Imit. Persius' Sat. i, Here a pert sot, with six months pain, brings forth A strange, misshapen, and ridiculous birth. 1711 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 15 July, We had a sad pert dull parson at Kensington to-day. 1728 Pope Dunc. ii. 39 With pert flat eyes she window'd well its head, A brain of feathers and a heart of lead. 1752 H. Walpole Let. to R. Bentley 5–12 Aug., The Fairfaxes have fitted up a pert bad apartment in the fore-part of the Castle. |
5. Bold (esp. in a blameworthy sense); forward; audacious, presumptuous. Obs. (exc. as merged in 4.)
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (1858) I. 169 That none..Durst be so pert as to stryk with ane wapyn. Ibid. II. 15 That ony Pecht sould be so perth to preve, To pas that wall without the legatis leve. 1590 Marlowe Edw. II, i. iv, But this I scorne that one so basely borne Should by his soueraignes fauour grow so pert. 1673 Chas. II in Lauderdale P. (1885) III. 2 Now they are not so perte on that subiect as they were. |
| β 1535 Lyndesay Satyre 2914 Ye are over peart with sik maters to mell. 1570 Levins Manip. 211/15 Pearte, audax, impudens. |
6. a. Lively; brisk, sprightly; in good spirits, cheerful, ‘jolly’. Since 17th c. only dial.; often used of the state of an invalid: ‘bright’, ‘perky’, ‘chirpy’, as opposed to ‘depressed’, ‘down’ (esp. in form peart: see β).
| 1581 T. Nuce Seneca's Octavia i. i, Syr Phœbus pert with spouting beame From dewy neast doth mount apace. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. i. i. 13 Awake the pert and nimble spirit of mirth. 1634 Milton Comus 118 And on the Tawny Sands and Shelves, Trip the pert Fairies and the dapper Elves. 1693 Humours Town 116 A young, pert, blooming Girl. 1696 Verney Mem. (1899) IV. 477, I watched last night with him and I thought him fine and pert in the morning but hee fell off again in the afternoone as hee doth most Daies. a 1732, 1738 [see pearmonger]. 1774 P. V. Fithian Jrnl. (1900) 241 Ben seems a little more pert today. 1872 R. B. Marcy Border Rem. 252 Wa'al, now, straanger,..I war middlin' sort o' pert yesterday, but..I'ze powerful weak to-day. 1891 L. T. Meade Sweet Girl Graduate xxii. 187 I'll be glad to lie down... I'll be as pert as a cricket in the morning. |
(β) dial. and U.S. (often viewed as a distinct word).
‘No word in literary English precisely expresses the idea of peart; least of any does pert. Peart conveys the impression of sprightly liveliness, of a joyous, healthy, fresh, happy condition, in the person or animal to which it is applied.’ F. T. Elworthy in N. & Q. 9th ser. IV. (1899) 525.
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxv. 10 He wes townysche, peirt, and gukit. 1565 [see pearmonger]. 1578 Gosson in Sch. Abuse (Arb.) Notes 78 When he perceyues Don Cortes here so pearte. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 2 They are very peart in the new of the Moon, and sad in the conjunction. 1828 J. Hall Lett. fr. West 304 These little fixens..make a man feel right peart, when he is three or four hundred miles from any body or any place. 1832 W. Irving Jrnl. 10 Nov. (1919) III. 171 My horse goes quite peart. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. iii, And watched the hawks soaring, and the ‘peert’ bird. 1859 W. Warner Albion's Eng. ii. xxxi. 135 As peart as bird. 1863 Kingsley Water-Bab. i, For which reason he [Tom] was as piert as a game⁓cock. 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. xlv, Quick she had always been and ‘peart’, as we say on Exmoor. 1873 A. J. Munby Diary 11 July in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 335 Sir Arthur Helps with his bristling white hair and ‘peart’ white face, so like Mazzini. 1889 Hurst Horsham, Gloss. Sussex Words s.v., I'm sure the child is better to-day, she looks so peart. 1943 Amer. Speech XVIII. 67/2 Peart (lively, in good health, especially of older people). |
b. Of plants: Fresh, flourishing, verdant.
| 1727 S. Switzer Pract. Gard. ii. xii. 95 Provided it [a melon] ripens well whilst the leaves and stalk are pert and green. 1772 in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1919) XIV. 272 The Corn looks pert & green. 1883 in Hampsh. Gloss. |
c. Of liquor: Brisk, pleasantly sharp to the taste.
| a 1722 Lisle Husb. (1757) I. 377 Oat-malt and barley-malt equally mixed..makes a very pretty, pert, smooth drink. [Cf. quot. c 1825 s.v. pertish.] |
B. n. (absol. use of the adj.) A pert person or thing: in various senses. † in pert, openly (obs.).
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 13725 Pirrus of þat pert was pristly enamurt. c 1450 Holland Howlat 60 For schame of my schape in pert till appeir. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 145 No powdered pert, proficient in the art Of sounding an alarm, assaults these doors. |
C. adv. or quasi-adv.: in various senses of the adj.
| 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles iv. 88 Some parled as perte as prouyd well after. a 1400–50 Alexander 2295 And Bedels & bailȝais he bad a-none crye, Before hys peple so pert. 1485 Waterf. Arch. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 321 That..will goo among them prevy or peart for his propre besynes. 1528 Roy Rede me (Arb.) 48 Morover that no clarcke be so bolde, Prevy or pearte with hym to holde. 1530 Palsgr. 841 Privy or perte, en privé ou en apert. 1795 Cowper Pairing Time 28 A last year's bird, who ne'er had tried What pairing means, thus pert replied. 1859 J. Redpath Roving Editor 248 ‘Now hold up your head and walk pert... Quick—come—pert—only there already? pert!’ jerked out the mulatto, to hasten the boy's steps. 1902 W. N. Harben Abner Daniel 230 Well, I'm glad I won't have to go furder'n Darley... By ridin' peert I can let you out before sundown. 1972 News & Observer (Raleigh, N. Carolina) 30 Dec. 4/3 We aren't journey proud, and few of us get the big head or act pert. |
▪ II. † pert, v. Obs. rare.
[In sense 2, f. pert a. 4; in 1, app. a phonetic variant of perk v.; but the relation between these words is obscure.]
1. trans. with up. To raise briskly: = perk v.1 3.
| 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Knt. Burn. Pestle i. i, Didst thou ever see a prettier child? How it behaves it selfe..And speaks and looks, and pearts up the head? |
2. intr. To behave pertly: = perk v.1 1 b.
| 1637 J. Pocklington Altare Chr. 158 If..allowed to piert upon the Canons of the Church, and crow over her authority. 1661 Gauden Anti-Baal-Berith 292 Hagar perted against Sarah, and lifted herself up against her superiours. |
▪ III. pert
obs. form of part.