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''perquisite'' ▫ᴱᴺ Entries

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Primary

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''perquisite'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260207202820-00-⌔

perquisite - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

perquisite (plural perquisites)

  • (chiefly in the plural) Any monetary or other incidental benefit beyond salary.
    • ✤ The perquisites of this job include health insurance and a performance bonus.
    • ✤ The tithe properly belongs to the Lord who, in turn, assigns it to the Levites as payments for their sanctuary labors. Thus levitical and priestly perquisites are gifts from God.1
  • A gratuity.
    • ✤ After the wonderful service that evening he didn’t hesitate in laying a substantial perquisite on the table.
    • ✤ One voyage, I recollect, I tipped him a live sheep out of the remnant of my sea-stock: not that I wanted him to do anything for me—he couldn’t, you know—but because his childlike belief in the sacred right to perquisites quite touched my heart.2
  • A privilege or possession held or claimed exclusively by a certain person, group or class.
    • ✤ Private jets and motor yachts are perquisites of the rich.
    • ✤ Why is progress a perquisite reserved almost exclusively for the activities we call science?3

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin perquīsītum (“something acquired for profit”).

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈpɜːkwɪzɪt/
  • Audio (Southern England): 🔊
  • (General American) IPA: /ˈpɜɹkwəzɪt/
  • Hyphenation: per‧qui‧site

Printed 2026-06-28.

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Footnotes

  1. 2001, David L. Lieber, Jules Harlow, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, page 873: ↩

  2. 1900’, Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim, ch 5: ↩

  3. 1962, Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 3rd edition, page 160: ↩

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Secondary

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