Procuration
Procuration is the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency. The word is applied to the authority or power delegated to a procurator, or agent, as well as to the exercise of such authority expressed frequently by procuration, or shortly per pro., or simply p.p. A common usage of
per procurationem occurs in business letters, which are often signed on behalf of another person. For example, given a secretary authorized to sign a letter on behalf of the president of a company, the signature takes the form:
p.p. Secretary's Signature President's Name or President's Name
p.p. Secretary's Signature Commonly in practice, an alternative form is used:
Secretary's Signature p.p. President's Name The correct usage is the subject of some debate. It has been understood as both "through the agency of" and "on behalf of". The reason for this is that the meaning of the phrase
per procurationem is ambiguous if used with undeclinable English names. Procuratio is related to the words "pro" and "cura". It is thus close in meaning to "agency" - acting instead of someone.