1.  performance(n = noun.communication) public presentation - a dramatic or musical entertainment; "they listened to ten different performances"; "the play ran for 100 performances"; "the frequent performances of the symphony testify to its popularity"
is a kind of show
has parts: coda, finale
has particulars: act, bit, number, routine, turn, benefit, concert, pianism, play reading, premiere, recital, rendering, rendition, song and dance, histrionics, representation, theatrical, theatrical performance, spectacular, world premiere
Derived form verb perform₃

2.  performance(n = noun.act) Array - the act of presenting a play or a piece of music or other entertainment; "we congratulated him on his performance at the rehearsal"; "an inspired performance of Mozart's C minor concerto"
is a kind of demonstration, presentation, presentment
has parts: acting, performing, playacting, playing
has particulars: dramatic performance, dramatic production, encore, extemporisation, extemporization, improvisation, juggle, juggling, conjuration, conjuring trick, deception, illusion, legerdemain, magic, magic trick, thaumaturgy, trick, musical performance, one-night stand, interpretation, rendering, rendition, last hurrah, swan song, program, programme

3.  performance(n = noun.act) carrying into action, carrying out, execution - the act of performing; of doing something successfully; using knowledge as distinguished from merely possessing it; "they criticised his performance as mayor"; "experience generally improves performance"
is a kind of action
has particulars: specific performance, linguistic performance, mechanics, mechanism, officiation
Derived form verb perform₁

4.  performance(n = noun.act) Array - any recognized accomplishment; "they admired his performance under stress"; "when Roger Maris powered four home runs in one game his performance merits awe"
is a kind of accomplishment, achievement
has particulars: overachievement, underachievement

5.  performance(n = noun.process) functioning, operation - process or manner of functioning or operating; "the power of its engine determines its operation"; "the plane's operation in high winds"; "they compared the cooking performance of each oven"; "the jet's performance conformed to high standards"
is a kind of physical process, process

1.  The act of performing; the carrying into execution or action; execution; achievement; accomplishment; representation by action; as, the performance of an undertaking of a duty. [1913 Webster]
"Promises are not binding where the performance is impossible." [1913 Webster]

2.  That which is performed or accomplished; a thing done or carried through; an achievement; a deed; an act; a feat; esp., an action of an elaborate or public character. [1913 Webster]

performance, n.
1 (usu. foll. by of) a the act or process of performing or carrying out. b the execution or fulfilment (of a duty etc.).
2 a staging or production (of a drama, piece of music, etc.) (the afternoon performance).
3 a person's achievement under test conditions etc. (put up a good performance).
4 colloq. a fuss; a scene; a public exhibition (made such a performance about leaving).
5 a the capabilities of a machine, esp. a car or aircraft. b (attrib.) of high capability (a performance car).

N  the drama, the stage, the theater, the play, film the film, movies, motion pictures, cinema, cinematography, theatricals, dramaturgy, histrionic art, buskin, sock, cothurnus, Melpomene and Thalia, Thespis, play, drama, stage play, piece, five-act play, tragedy, comedy, opera, vaudeville, comedietta, lever de rideau, interlude, afterpiece, exode, farce, divertissement, extravaganza, burletta, harlequinade, pantomime, burlesque, opera bouffe, ballet, spectacle, masque, drame comedie drame, melodrama, melodrame, comidie larmoyante, sensation drama, tragicomedy, farcical-comedy, monodrame monologue, duologue trilogy, charade, proverbs, mystery, miracle play, musical, musical comedy, western, horse opera, flick, spy film, love story, adventure film, documentary, nature film, pornographic film, smoker, skin flick, X-rated film, act, scene, tableau, induction, introduction, prologue, epilogue, libretto, performance, representation, mise en scene, stagery, jeu de theatre, acting, gesture, impersonation, stage business, gag, buffoonery, light comedy, genteel comedy, low comedy, theater, playhouse, opera house, house, music hall, amphitheater, circus, hippodrome, theater in the round, puppet show, fantoccini, marionettes, Punch and Judy, auditory, auditorium, front of the house, stalls, boxes, pit, gallery, parquet, greenroom, coulisses, flat, drop, drop scene, wing, screen, side scene, transformation scene, curtain, act drop, proscenium, stage, scene, scenery, the boards, trap, mezzanine floor, flies, floats, footlights, offstage, orchestra, theatrical costume, theatrical properties, movie studio, back lot, on location, part, role, character, dramatis personae, repertoire, actor, thespian, player, method actor, stage player, strolling player, stager, performer, mime, mimer, artists, comedian, tragedian, tragedienne, Roscius, star, movie star, star of stage and screen, superstar, idol, sex symbol, supporting actor, supporting cast, ham, hamfatter, masker, pantomimist, clown harlequin, buffo, buffoon, farceur, grimacer, pantaloon, columbine, punchinello, pulcinello, pulcinella, extra, bit- player, walk-on role, cameo appearance, mute, figurante, general utility, super, supernumerary, company, first tragedian, prima donna, protagonist, jeune premier, debutant, debutante, light comedian, genteel comedian, low comedian, walking gentleman, amoroso, heavy father, ingenue, jeune veuve, mummer, guiser, guisard, gysart, masque, mountebank, Jack Pudding, tumbler, posture master, acrobat, contortionist, ballet dancer, ballet girl, chorus singer, coryphee danseuse, property man, costumier, machinist, prompter, call boy, manager, director, stage manager, acting manager, producer, entrepreneur, impresario, backer, investor, angel, dramatic author, dramatic writer, play writer, playwright, dramatist, mimographer, dramatic, theatric, theatrical, scenic, histrionic, comic, tragic, buskined, farcical, tragicomic, melodramatic, operatic, stagy, on the stage, on the boards, on film, before the floats, before an audience, behind the scenes, fere totus mundus exercet histrionem, suit the action to the word, the word to the action, the play's the thing, to wake the soul by tender strokes of art.

N  action, performance, doing perpetration, exercise, excitation, movement, operation, evolution, work, labor, praxis, execution, procedure, handicraft, business, agency, deed, act, overt act, stitch, touch, gest transaction, job, doings, dealings, proceeding, measure, step, maneuver, bout, passage, move, stroke, blow, coup, coup de main, coup d'etat, tour de force, feat, exploit, achievement, handiwork, workmanship, manufacture, stroke of policy, actor, doing, acting, in action, in harness, on duty, in operation, in the act, in the midst of, in the thick of, red-handed, in flagrante delicto, while one's hand is in, action is eloquence, actions speak louder than words, actum aiunt ne agas, awake, arise, or be forever fall'n, dii pia facta vident, faire sans dire, fare fac, fronte capillata post est occasio calva, our deeds are sometimes better than our thoughts, the great end of life is not knowledge but action, thought is the soul of act, vivre-ce nest pas respirer c'est agir, we live in deeds not years.

N  completion, accomplishment, achievement, fulfillment, performance, execution, despatch, dispatch, consummation, culmination, finish, conclusion, close, terminus, winding up, finale, denouement, catastrophe, issue, upshot, result, final touch, last touch, crowning touch, finishing touch, finishing stroke, last finish, coup de grace, crowning of the edifice, coping-stone, keystone, missing link, superstructure, ne plus ultra, work done, fait accompli, elaboration, finality, completeness, completing, final, concluding, conclusive, crowning, exhaustive, done, completed, done for, sped, wrought out, highly wrought, thorough, ripe, completely, to crown all, out of hand, the race is run, actum est, finis coronat opus, consummatum est, c'en est fait, it is all over, the game is played out, the bubble has burst, aussitot dit aussitot fait, aut non tentaris aut perfice.

N  observance, performance, compliance, acquiescence, concurrence, obedience, fulfillment, satisfaction, discharge, acquittance, acquittal, adhesion, acknowledgment, fidelity, exact, observance, observant, faithful, true, loyal, honorable, true as the dial to the sun, true as the needle to the pole, punctual, punctilious, literal, as good as one's word, faithfully, ignoscito saepe alteri nunquam tibi, tempori parendum, to God, thy country, and thy friend be true.

N  effect, consequence, aftergrowth, aftercome, derivative, derivation, result, resultant, resultance, upshot, issue, denouement, end, development, outgrowth, fruit, crop, harvest, product, bud, production, produce, work, handiwork, fabric, performance, creature, creation, offspring, offshoot, firstfruits, firstlings, heredity, telegony, premices premises, owing to, resulting from, derivable from, due to, caused by, dependent upon, derived from, evolved from, derivative, hereditary, telegonous, of course, it follows that, naturally, consequently, as a consequence, in consequence, through, all along of, necessarily, eventually, cela va sans dire, thereby hangs a tale.

N  production, creation, construction, formation, fabrication, manufacture, building, architecture, erection, edification, coinage, diaster, organization, nisus formativus, putting together, establishment, workmanship, performance, achievement, flowering, fructification, inflorescence, bringing forth, parturition, birth, birth-throe, childbirth, delivery, confinement, accouchement, travail, labor, midwifery, obstetrics, geniture, gestation, assimilation, evolution, development, growth, entelechy, fertilization, gemination, germination, heterogamy, genesis, generation, epigenesis, procreation, progeneration, propagation, fecundation, impregnation, albumen, spontaneous generation, archegenesis, archebiosis, biogenesis, abiogenesis, digenesis, dysmerogenesis, eumerogenesis, heterogenesis, oogenesis, merogenesis, metogenesis, monogenesis, parthenogenesis, homogenesis, xenogenesis, authorship, publication, works, opus, oeuvre, biogeny, dissogeny, xenogeny, tocogony, vacuolization, edifice, building, structure, fabric, erection, pile, tower, flower, fruit, produced, producing, productive of, prolific, creative, formative, genetic, genial, genital, pregnant, enceinte, big with, fraught with, in the family way, teeming, parturient, in the straw, brought to bed of, puerperal, puerperous, digenetic, heterogenetic, oogenetic, xenogenetic, ectogenous, gamic, haematobious, sporogenous, sporophorous, architectonic, ex nihilo nihil, fiat lux, materiam superabat opus, nemo dat quod non habet.

N  duty, what ought to be done, moral obligation, accountableness, liability, onus, responsibility, bounden duty, imperative duty, call, call of duty, accountability, allegiance, fealty, tie engagement, part, function, calling, morality, morals, decalogue, case of conscience, conscientiousness, conscience, inward monitor, still small voice within, sense of duty, tender conscience, superego, the hell within, dueness, propriety, fitness, seemliness, amenability, decorum, to prepon, the thing, the proper thing, the right thing to do, the proper thing to do, ethics, ethology, deontology, aretology, moral philosophy, ethical philosophy, casuistry, polity, observance, fulfillment, discharge, performance, acquittal, satisfaction, redemption, good behavior, obligatory, binding, imperative, peremptory, stringent, behooving, incumbent on, chargeable on, under obligation, obliged by, bound by, tied by, saddled with, due to, beholden to, bound to, indebted to, tied down, compromised, in duty bound, amenable, liable, accountable, responsible, answerable, right, meet, moral, ethical, casuistical, conscientious, ethological, with a safe conscience, as in duty, bound, on one's own responsibility, at one's own risk, suo periculo, in foro conscientiae, quamdiu se bene gesserit, dura lex sed lex, dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, honos habet onus, leve fit quod bene fertur onus, loyaute m'oblige, simple duty bath no place for fear, stern daughter of the voice of God, there is a higher law than the Constitution.

N  musician, artiste, performer, player, minstrel, bard, accompanist, accordionist, instrumentalist, organist, pianist, violinist, flautist, harper, fiddler, fifer, trumpeter, piper, drummer, catgut scraper, band, orchestral waits, vocalist, melodist, singer, warbler, songster, chaunter, chauntress, songstress, cantatrice, choir, quire, chorister, chorus, chorus singer, liedertafel, nightingale, philomel, thrush, siren, bulbul, mavis, Pierides, sacred nine, Orpheus, Apollo, the Muses Erato, Euterpe, Terpsichore, tuneful nine, tuneful quire, composer, performance, execution, touch, expression, solmization, playing, musical, adagio, andante.

army high performance computing research center, dramatic performance, musical performance, performance bond, performance capability, specific performance, theatrical performance