Etymologically
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perfetto

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Pronunciation

  • /perˈfɛt.to/[1]

Forms

perfetto (feminine perfetta, masculine plural perfetti, feminine plural perfette, superlative perfettissimo)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin perfectus (“completed, finished”), a learned word, the past participle of perficiō (“to carry through, complete”).[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is formed from per- (“thoroughly”) and faciō (“to make, do”), with the vowel of the root weakened to /i/ in an open syllable and to /e/ in a closed one.[2][5]

The Latin word also gave Old French parfit, Old Occitan perfech, Spanish perfecto and Portuguese perfeito.[6][3] Modern French parfait was reshaped on the verb parfaire.[7] The grammatical term perfectum was introduced by Varro for the perfective aspect of verbs, following the Stoic doctrine of grammar, and translates Ancient Greek τέλειος (téleios) or συντελικός (suntelikós).[3][7][8]

faciō continues Proto-Italic *fakiō, a present built on the aorist of Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put”), whose final /k/ has a parallel in the Greek aorist of the same root.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Bono Giamboni, before 1292, for something brought to completion.[2] Giamboni writes of a man: “esaminatelo sicuramente ché 'l troverete ben perfetto e degno di vostra compagnia” (examine him without fear, for you will find him quite perfect and worthy of your company).[8]

Semantic evolution

The sense “without flaws or faults” is in Jacopone da Todi before 1306.[2] In older Italian the word could also mean “fully ripe”: Dante speaks of sangue perfetto.[10] The grammatical noun, for the perfect tense, is in Mario d'Arezzo in 1543, and the adjective in this use in Leon Battista Alberti about 1438.[2]

In 1877 Fanfani and Arlìa condemned un perfetto galantuomo, un perfetto cavaliere as French parfait;[2] DELI notes that perfetta damigella is recorded in 1827 and perfetto dandy in the Milanese press in 1847.[2] Before the noun, the adjective now often reinforces a negative word ironically, as in un perfetto imbecille, and alone it serves as an exclamation of approval.[4][11] Among the derivatives, perfezionare is of 1553 and perfettibile of before 1558, while perfezionismo and perfezionista are English perfectionism (1937) and perfectionist (1934).[2]

French took parfait in the musical sense of perfetto in 1703 (accord parfait), and early modern German had perfette (1411).[12]

Timeline

  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses perfetto.[2]
  • Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses it for “flawless”.[2]
  • About 1438 – Leon Battista Alberti uses it of a tense.[2]
  • 1543 – Mario d'Arezzo uses the noun for the perfect tense.[2]
  • 1553 – Perfezionare is recorded.[2]
  • 1703 – French parfait takes the musical sense of the Italian word.[12]
  • 1877 – Fanfani and Arlìa condemn perfetto galantuomo as a Gallicism.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Without any flaw or defect: Il suo italiano è quasi perfetto.[4][11][10]
  2. Complete in all its parts; total, absolute: Viveva in perfetta solitudine.[4][11][10]
  3. (literary) Finished, brought to an end.[4]
  4. excellent, done in the best possible way; in very good condition: La bicicletta è in perfetto stato.[4][11]
  5. Having a quality to the highest degree; also ironic before a negative word: Si è comportato da perfetto egoista.[4][11][10]
  6. (as an interjection) Expressing approval or agreement: «Ho prenotato il tavolo.» «Perfetto!»[4][11]
  7. (mathematics) In numero perfetto, a whole number equal to the sum of its divisors other than itself.[10]
  8. (music) In accordo perfetto, a triad of the root, the third and the fifth.[10]

Noun

  1. (grammar) The perfect tense.[2][1]

Word family

  • perfezione
  • perfezionare
  • perfezionamento
  • perfettibile
  • perfettibilità
  • perfezionismo
  • perfezionista
  • perfettivo
  • imperfetto
  • piuccheperfetto

Usage notes

Old Italian also had a perfetto that is a variant of prefetto by metathesis, “prefect”, in Domenico Cavalca and Antonio Pucci.[13] The plant name perfetto amore, for columbine and larkspur (1738), is French parfait amour, from the language of flowers.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  7. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2849
  8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 13, 3
  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 d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  11. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  12. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  13. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 13, 7