perill

Perill is a term with distinct senses in English and Catalan, and it also appears in historical texts as an archaic spelling. In English-language historical writing, perill is an obsolete or literary variant of peril, referring to danger or risk. This spelling appears in Middle English and Early Modern English texts, reflecting earlier orthographic practices before standardization favored peril. The etymology traces to Old French peril (péril) and ultimately Latin periculum, all forms sharing a core meaning of danger.

In Catalan, perill is a common noun meaning danger or risk. It is used in everyday language, signs, and formal contexts to denote potential harm or hazard. The Catalan form perill derives from the same Latin root that underpins the Romance-language family, and its modern usage is well established in contemporary speech. The plural form is perills.

In other contexts, the form perill is primarily encountered in linguistic discussions about historical spelling, or as a surname or place-name in some Romance-language regions. It is not a widely used modern spelling outside Catalan, but it remains of interest to philologists studying the development of the word and its cognates across languages.

See also: peril, péril, pericolo.