Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

percival

/ˈpɜː(ɹ)sɪvəl/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.91 in modern English

Syllables: per-ci-val
IPA: /ˈpɜː(ɹ)sɪvəl/

15

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A male given name from the Celtic languages.

name

A surname originating as a patronymic.

name

An unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fremont County, Iowa, United States.

name

A former hamlet in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Example Sentences

"Lancelot Fortescue! What a name! And what was the other son - Percival? He wondered what the first Mrs Fortescue had been like? She had a curious taste in Christian names..."

Etymology

From Old French Perceval, name of a knight in a twelfth century Arthurian romance by the French poet Chrétien de Troyes. Shaped like Old French percier (“pierce”) + val (“valley”), but probably representing some Gaulish or Old Welsh name, possibly related to Welsh Peredur, from ber (“spear, lance”) (from Middle Welsh ber, from Proto-Brythonic *ber, from Proto-Celtic *beru (“spit”)) + dur (“hard metal, steel”) (see Latin durus). Cognate with German Parzival and Parsifal.

Origin

Source language: Old French

Word Breakdown

Root: Perceval, -, Peredur, ber, *ber, *beru

Inflected Forms

Pursifull (alternative)

Questions

How do you pronounce percival?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpɜː(ɹ)sɪvəl/.
What does percival mean?: A male given name from the Celtic languages.
Where does percival come from?: It is traced to Old French.

How to pronounce percival

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “percival”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈpɜː(ɹ)sɪvəl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “percival”.
Repeat and practice — Say “percival” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.