perfecte

Forms

perfectē (comparative perfectius, superlative perfectissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin perfectus (“complete, perfect”) + -ē,^[2] the participle of perficiō (“to complete”),^[3][4] a compound of per- and faciō (“to make”).^[5] De Vaan derives faciō from Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁-k- (“to make”), beside *dʰeh₁- (“to put”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Cicero,^[4] who in the Brutus and De oratore calls a man perfecte eruditus, thoroughly learned.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Its sense is “fully, completely, perfectly”, so that nothing is lacking.^[2][3] Cicero also uses it of imitating the truth perfectly in the De divinatione.^[3] The comparative perfectius appears in Apuleius and Tertullian, the superlative perfectissime in Gellius.^[3] Köbler also records it in the Bible and in scholastic theology.^[4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of thorough learning.^[3][4]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses the comparative.^[3][4]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses the comparative.^[3][4]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses the superlative.^[3][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Fully, completely, perfectly.^[2][3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill