peruser (1346)
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peruser (1346)

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[ hap]

[ FEW: 14,70b usare; Gdf: 6,14c paruser; GdfC: ∅; TL: 7,397 paruser; DEAF:  user (paruser; peruser); DMF:  paruser; TLF: ∅; OED:  peruse v.; MED: ∅; DMLBS: 2247a perusitari ]
 

While this verb is attested in Continental French, it is in the sense of ‘to use up completely’. Anglo-Norman and English attest to a semantic shift to the sense of ‘to go through, examine’ which is attested in English from the end of the 15th century. The OED suggests that this shift in meaning might be due to its visual similarity to the verb pervise v., meaning ‘to look over, examine’, derived from the past participial stem of pervidere (DMLBS 2249b)

v.a.

1to go through, examine: 
( 1346 )  il [...] fut mys a dire cause pur quei (=why he had challenged the polls), avant le panel perusé  20 Ed III 487

p.p._as_a.

1completely used up, worn out: 
( 1397 )  un blanc cope de sarszinet [...] ovesqe l’orfrey de drap d’or de Lukes feble et perusez  293
( 1423 )  Item, .i. veilx lintheu de Reynes, parusez, de .iiij. lees, pris [...]  iv 231
par#2  user 
This is an AND2 Phase 4 (N-O/U-P-Q) entry. © 2013-17 The Anglo-Norman Dictionary. All rights reserved. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council of the United Kingdom.
peruser