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parfaitement

Etymology and origin of the French word parfaitement

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (parfitement)
Ultimate origin
Latin (perficiō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin perfectus
French parfait
French parfaitement

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /paʁ.fɛt.mɑ̃/[1]

Forms

parfaitement[1] Old French parfitement (about 1050), parfetement (about 1180); parfaitement from the 13th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French parfait + -ment, on the feminine of the adjective.[5][3][2][1][6] parfait continues Latin perfectus (“completed, perfect”), the past participle of perficiō (“to finish”).[3]

Compare Old Occitan perfeitament, Spanish perfectamente, Portuguese perfeitamente and Italian perfettamente.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has Parfitement s'ad a Deu cumandet, “he commended himself wholly to God”, meaning in an excellent and complete way.[5][6][2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “completely, totally” is found about 1260 in Philippe de Novare, or about 1130 in Eneas according to the GLLF.[5][2] In 16th-century writers it often intensifies an adjective, as in Amyot's la parfaittement belle et bonne temperature de sa personne.[6]

Used alone as an emphatic “yes, certainly”, it is first found in Diderot (1784); the Petit Robert dates the use to 1835 and Littré records it in 1868.[5][4][7]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Parfitement, Vie de saint Alexis.[5]
  • c. 1180 – Parfetement.[3]
  • c. 1260 – “Completely”, Philippe de Novare.[5]
  • 1784 – As an affirmative “certainly!”, Diderot.[5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. perfectly, in a perfect way: savoir parfaitement une langue.[4][1]
  2. Very well: je comprends parfaitement.[4]
  3. Completely, absolutely, utterly: c'est parfaitement clair, cela m'est parfaitement égal.[4][2]
  4. (as an answer) Certainly, exactly, quite so.[4][5][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
Cite this entry

“Parfaitement.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/parfaitement. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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