Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A payment, profit, or benefit received in addition to a regular wage or salary, especially when due or expected.
  • noun Something regarded or claimed as an exclusive right by virtue of one's social position or rank: synonym: right.
  • noun A gratuity; a tip.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An incidental emolument, profit, gain, or fee, over and above the fixed or settled income, salary, or wages; something received incidentally and in addition to regular wages, salary, fees, etc.
  • noun In law, whatever one gets by industry or purchases with his money, as distinguished from things which come to him by descent.
  • That may or must be sought out.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Something gained from a place or employment over and above the ordinary salary or fixed wages for services rendered; especially, a fee allowed by law to an officer for a specific service.
  • noun (Law) Things gotten by a man's own industry, or purchased with his own money, as opposed to things which come to him by descent.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun mostly plural Any monetary or other incidental benefit beyond salary.
  • noun A gratuity.
  • noun A privilege or possession held or claimed exclusively by a certain person, group or class.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an incidental benefit awarded for certain types of employment (especially if it is regarded as a right)
  • noun a right reserved exclusively by a particular person or group (especially a hereditary or official right)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Middle English perquisites, property acquired otherwise than by inheritance, from Medieval Latin perquīsītum, acquisition, from Latin, neuter past participle of perquīrere, to search diligently for : per-, per- + quaerere, to seek.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Medieval Latin perquisitum (something acquired for profit).

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Examples

  • Okay, so after I looked up "perquisite" I thought they'd misspelled prerequisite, but it turns out it means "freebie" or "bonus", I thought--gee, who uses the word "perquisite"?

    AL Direct 2006

  • Okay, so after I looked up "perquisite" I thought they'd misspelled prerequisite, but it turns out it means "freebie" or "bonus", I thought--gee, who uses the word "perquisite"?

    January 2006 2006

  • The Finance (No 2) Act, 2009, reintroduced stock incentives as 'perquisite' in the hands of employees.

    Daily News & Analysis 2009

  • The Finance (No 2) Act, 2009, reintroduced stock incentives as 'perquisite' in the hands of employees.

    Daily News & Analysis 2009

  • The Finance (No 2) Act, 2009, reintroduced stock incentives as 'perquisite' in the hands of employees.

    Daily News & Analysis 2009

  • In making the annual contract with the baker, his perquisite was the thirteenth loaf of every dozen furnished—hence the baker’s dozen.23 He was expected to know how to make “all kinds of preserved fruit, both liquid and dry, stewed fruits, creams, sweet cakes, marzipans, syrups, flavored waters, and distilled liqueurs.”

    Savoring The Past Wheaton Barbara Ketcham 1983

  • In making the annual contract with the baker, his perquisite was the thirteenth loaf of every dozen furnished—hence the baker’s dozen.23 He was expected to know how to make “all kinds of preserved fruit, both liquid and dry, stewed fruits, creams, sweet cakes, marzipans, syrups, flavored waters, and distilled liqueurs.”

    Savoring The Past Wheaton Barbara Ketcham 1983

  • He hoped Dinwiddie would not renege on his promises and make his situation “worse by taking away the only perquisite I have.”

    George Washington’s First War David A. Clary 2011

  • He hoped Dinwiddie would not renege on his promises and make his situation “worse by taking away the only perquisite I have.”

    George Washington’s First War David A. Clary 2011

  • He hoped Dinwiddie would not renege on his promises and make his situation “worse by taking away the only perquisite I have.”

    George Washington’s First War David A. Clary 2011

Comments

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  • Citation on fob.

    July 29, 2008

  • Perquisite - lovely word...as is pazzazzamole...except that's not a word, rather, a concoction.

    July 18, 2012

  • There's many a prez who'd flirt a bit

    High office bestows that perquisite

    But impulse erupts

    And power corrupts

    So never entrust a jerk with it.

    July 5, 2017