Other forms: performed, performing, performs
To perform is to sing, act, or play music in front of people. Perform on stage, perform a song, perform live.
It also means simply to carry something out — perform a task, perform surgery, perform well — which is the sense in performance review and in how a machine performs. Both go back to the same French verb meaning to complete. Note performer, performance; and that the r in the middle came from confusion with form, which was never in the word.
1verbperformTo sing, act, or play music in front of people.
“The band will perform their new songs at the festival on Saturday.”
2verbcarryTo carry something out.
“The robot can perform simple tasks like cleaning floors.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
perform is a doing or presenting.
Anglo-Norman performer alters Old French parfournir, to complete — par plus fournir, to furnish. The resemblance to form is an accident.
Proto-Indo-European
*promo- — in front, forth
Proto-Germanic
*frumjaną
Frankish
*frummjan — to accomplish, furnish
Old French
parfornir
Anglo-Norman
performer
Middle English
parformen
English, today
perform
Built from
From Middle English parformen, performen (“to perform”), from Anglo-Norman performer, parfourmer, alteration of Old French parfornir, parfurnir (“to complete, accomplish, perform”), from par- + fornir, furnir (“to accomplish, furnish”), from Frankish frummjan (“to accomplish, furnish”), from Proto-Germanic frumjaną, framjaną (“to further, promote”), from Proto-Indo-European promo- (“in front, forth”), per- (“forward, out”). Cognate with Old High German frummen (“to do, execute, accomplish, provide”), Old Saxon frummian (“to perform, promote”), Old English fremman (“to perform, execute, carry out, accomplish”). See also frame, from. Modernly, rather than frumjaną, associated with formō, analyzable as per- + form.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA