Etymologically
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perfect

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: adjective UK /ˈpɜː.fɪkt/, US /ˈpɝː.fɪkt/; verb UK /pəˈfekt/, US /pɚˈfekt/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English parfit (“flawless, ideal”),[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French parfit (“finished, completed, ready”) (modern parfait),[2][3][4] from Latin perfectus (“completed, excellent, accomplished”),[2][3][5] the past participle of perficere (“to accomplish, finish, complete”),[2][3][6] formed from per- (“completely”) and facere (“to make, do”).[2][5][7] Etymonline traces facere to Proto-Indo-European *dhe- (“to set, put”).[2][5] The spelling perfect, a classical correction after the Latin, dates from the 15th century.[2][7][4] It is related to fact, affect, effect and parfait.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Fully formed, faultless: about 1290 in the form parfijt,[10] or about 1300;[3][2] Barnhart notes the surname Parfet in 1196.[3]

Semantic evolution

Hoad dates “thoroughly versed or trained” and “in a complete state” to the 13th century, and “faultless, accurate” to the 14th.[7] Of a legal act, “duly completed”, it is from about 1330.[10] “Complete, full, lacking in no way” is from the late 14th century,[2] and the noun “perfection” from the same time.[2] In arithmetic, a perfect number is from the 15th century, and “unqualified, utter” from the 16th.[7] The intensive use, as in a perfect stranger, comes from the notion of completeness.[2] The grammatical sense, of a tense describing a completed action, is from about 1500,[2] and the noun the perfect from 1841.[11] The verb meant “to bring to full development” from the late 14th century,[2] and “to make perfect or faultless” from about 1449.[10]

Timeline

  • 1196 – the surname Parfet.[3]
  • c. 1290 – faultless (parfijt).[10]
  • 13th century – thoroughly trained; complete.[7]
  • late 14th century – complete; verb, to bring to full development.[2]
  • 15th century – the spelling perfect.[7]
  • c. 1500 – the perfect tense.[2]
  • 16th century – utter, unqualified.[7]
  • 1841 – noun, the perfect tense.[11]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Lacking nothing essential; complete.
  2. Without defect or blemish; flawless.
  3. Thoroughly skilled; proficient.
  4. Completely suited to a purpose: the perfect gift.
  5. Completely corresponding to a type; exact.
  6. Utter, absolute: a perfect stranger.
  7. (grammar) Of a tense, expressing completed action.

Noun

  1. (grammar) The perfect tense, or a verb in it.

Verb

  1. To bring to perfection or completion.

Word family

  • perfecter
  • perfectness
  • perfectedly
  • superperfect
  • unperfect
  • imperfect
  • letter-perfect
  • perfection

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary notes that perfect has often been called an absolute term that cannot be qualified, but that more perfect has reputable precedents, most notably in the preamble to the US Constitution.[12] It compares perfect with consummate, faultless, flawless and impeccable.[12] In Scotland and the north, perfect meant “thorough, utter”.[13]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  12. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  13. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)