one of a large group of beautiful, fairylike beings of Persian mythology, represented as descended from fallen angels and excluded from paradise until their penance is accomplished.
a prefix meaning “about” or “around” (perimeter, periscope), “enclosing” or “surrounding” (pericardium), and “near” (perigee, perihelion), appearing in loanwords from Greek (peripeteia); on this model, used in the formation of compound words (perimorph).