Perk
late Middle English (in the senses ‘perch’ and ‘be lively’): perhaps from an Old French dialect variant of percher ‘to perch’.
wiktionary
Clipping of perquisite
Clipping of percolate (verb) and percolator (noun).
The origin is uncertain.
The origin is uncertain.
From Middle English perken, from Old Northern French perquer.
etymonline
perk (v.)
late 14c., perken, "to make oneself trim or smart," perhaps literally "to perch on a tree," from Old North French perquer "to perch" (Modern French percher; see perch (n.1), and compare perk (n.1)), on notion of a bird preening its plumage. Sense of "raise briskly, hold up smartly" is attested from 1520s; perk up "recover liveliness" is from 1650s. Related: Perked; perking.
Þe popeiayes perken and pruynen for proude On peren and pynappel.
["Susannah," Scottish alliterative poem, c. 1390]
perk (n.1)
"horizontal bar serving as a support for various purposes," late 14c., "rod, pole, perch for a hawk," a variant of perch (n.1) or from Medieval Latin perca, Old French perce, variant of perche.
perk (n.2)
1869, a shortened, colloquial form of perquisite (q.v.), also perq. As a verb, 1934 as a shortened and altered form of percolate, also perc.
