Etymologically
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parfaitement

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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