perfecto

Forms

perfecto (feminine perfecta, masculine plural perfectos, feminine plural perfectas)^[1] The form perfeto was used by Gómez Manrique, in the Quijote and by Covarrubias.^[2]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin perfectus (“finished, complete”), the past participle of perficiō (“to finish, complete”).^[2][3][4][1] The popular outcome of the Latin word appears in Asturian perfecho, Portuguese perfeito and Galician perfeito, while Spanish has only the learned form.^[5] The Romance languages also have French parfait and Italian perfetto.^[6]

This verb is formed from Latin per- (“thoroughly”) + faciō (“to do, make”).^[7][1][8] De Vaan traces faciō to Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁-k- (“to make”), from *dʰeh₁- (“to put”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas finds it first in Berceo, and the BDELC dates it to the first half of the 13th century;^[2][3][10] DEMel's earliest secondary record is Berceo's Vida de santo Domingo, about 1230.^[2][3][10] In Alfonso X's Picatrix (1256) the fixed stars are cuerpos perfectos luzientes “perfect shining bodies”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The Diccionario de Autoridades defined it as finished or complete in its line, in a moral sense as one who has reached a high degree of virtue in the Christian or religious life, and also as beautiful, polished and well formed.^[12] The Academy's 1884 dictionary added “skilful in a trade or art” and the grammatical terms futuro perfecto and pretérito perfecto; its 1899 edition kept only “having the greatest possible goodness or excellence in its line”.^[13][14] The DLE now also has a legal sense, “fully effective in law”, and the use before a noun to stress a quality or defect to the full.^[4] Perfecto is also a man's given name.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 1230 – Berceo, the first record.^[2][10]
• 1256 – cuerpos perfectos in Alfonso X's Picatrix.^[11]
• 1272 – the first occurrence in the HSMS texts, in Alfonso X's General estoria.^[15]
• 1490 – the derivative imperfecto is first recorded.^[3]
• 1843 – desperfecto enters the Academy's dictionary.^[3][2]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology Del lat. perfectus.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. perfect: having the highest possible degree of goodness or excellence of its kind.^[4][1]
2. Having a quality or defect to the full: un perfecto desconocido.^[4]
3. (law) Fully valid in law.^[4]
4. (grammar) Perfective.^[4]

Noun

1. (grammar) The present perfect tense, pretérito perfecto compuesto.^[4]

Interjection

1. Expresses agreement: —¿Te parece bien a las ocho? —Perfecto.^[16]

Word family

• desperfecto
• imperfecto
• perfección
• perfeccionar
• perfectamente

Related words

• hacer
• Latin perfectus
• Portuguese perfeito
• English perfect

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 64
3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. perfecto
4. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. perfecto
5. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. perfectus
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6408
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 539
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. perfecto
11. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. perfecto
12. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. s.v. perfecto
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 815
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 766
15. ^ Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org, p. s.v. perfecto
16. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. perfecto