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perforate.

IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈpɜː.fə.ɹeɪt/

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb
  1. IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈpɜː.fə.ɹeɪt/

    Received-Pronunciation
  2. IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈpɝ.fɚ.eɪt/

    General-American
  3. Audio (US): (file)

Where this word comes from

The adjective is first attested in 1425, in Middle English, the verb in 1538; from Middle English perforat(e) (“perforated, pierced”), borrowed from Latin perforātus, the perfect passive participle of perforō (“to bore or pierce through, to perforate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from per- (“through, thorough”) + forō (“to bore, pierce”). Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

adj
  1. IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈpɜː.fə.ɹət/

    Received-Pronunciation
  2. IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈpɝ.fɚ.ət/

    General-American
Where this word comes from

The adjective is first attested in 1425, in Middle English, the verb in 1538; from Middle English perforat(e) (“perforated, pierced”), borrowed from Latin perforātus, the perfect passive participle of perforō (“to bore or pierce through, to perforate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from per- (“through, thorough”) + forō (“to bore, pierce”). Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

verb
  1. To pierce; to penetrate.

    transitive
  2. To make a line of holes in (a thin material) to allow separation at the line.

    transitive
    to perforate a sheet of postage stamps
Where this word comes from

The adjective is first attested in 1425, in Middle English, the verb in 1538; from Middle English perforat(e) (“perforated, pierced”), borrowed from Latin perforātus, the perfect passive participle of perforō (“to bore or pierce through, to perforate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from per- (“through, thorough”) + forō (“to bore, pierce”). Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

adj
  1. Perforated.

    not-comparable · obsolete
  2. Perforated, having a hole.

    not-comparable · obsolete
  3. Perforated.

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

The adjective is first attested in 1425, in Middle English, the verb in 1538; from Middle English perforat(e) (“perforated, pierced”), borrowed from Latin perforātus, the perfect passive participle of perforō (“to bore or pierce through, to perforate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from per- (“through, thorough”) + forō (“to bore, pierce”). Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.