1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Perquisite

PERQUISITE (Lat. perquisitum, that which has been acquired by careful search; perquirere, to search diligently), a term properly used of the profits which accrue to the holder of an office over and above the regular emoluments; also, in law, the casual profits, such as accrue by heriots, fines, reliefs, &c., to a lord of a manor above the yearly revenue from the copyholds. The word is used generally of the casual profits allowed by custom to servants or other employés from superfluous articles which the employer has enjoyed the use of or which are supposed not to be needed.