percept
/ˈpɝsɛpt/noun, verb
percept is spelled P-E-R-C-E-P-T: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 17 million words in written English, the 122,704th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, percept means “A perceived object as it exists in the mind of someone perceiving it; the mental impression that is the result of perceiving something” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of percept is percepts.
How many letters and syllables are in percept?
| Letters | 7: P-E-R-C-E-P-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 17 million words; the 122,704th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is percept?
Percept appears about once in every 17 million words in written English, the 122,704th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce percept?
- UK /ˈpɜːsɛpt/
- US /ˈpɝsɛpt/
As a verb (“Synonym of perceive”): /pəˈsɛpt/, /pərˈsɛpt/.
Percept has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-percept.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with percept?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as percept (/ɜɹsɛpt/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: precept.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of percept
- percepts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- percepting participle, present
- percepted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does percept mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
archaicSomething perceived; the object of perception.
- 2
A perceived object as it exists in the mind of someone perceiving it; the mental impression that is the result of perceiving something.
verb
- 1
obsoleterareSynonym of perceive.
- 2
To make perceptible or distinct, to reveal.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does percept come from?
A learned borrowing, after concept, from Classical Latin perceptum (“a proposition, principle, general idea”), from the neuter of perceptus (“perceived”), the past participle of percipiō (“to perceive”); see perceive. Coined by the Scottish metaphysician Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet (1788–1856), in Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic, published posthumously in 1860 (see the quotation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).