XPost: alt.usage.english   
   From: ldo@nz.invalid   
      
   The word “performant” seems to date to the early 19th century, and   
   then died out. However, according to   
   :   
      
       Usage notes   
      
       The word performant has found a niche in the 21st century through   
       adoption in computing contexts, but remains otherwise practically   
       unknown in day-to-day communication, where more common   
       alternatives (such as high-performance, efficient or effective)   
       are typically adopted.   
      
   Would you agree that it is very much a niche usage?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)