incomplete English · revision 15440

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1380|origins=la compleō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɪn.kəmˈpliːt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|incompleet]], [[bor|fro|incomplette]] and directly [[la-lat|incomplētus]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) from [[m|la|in-|t=not]] and [[m|la|complētus|t=filled, finished]] (see [[complete]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Not fully formed or finished: about 1380 in the OED, probably 1384 in Wycliffe's writings in Barnhart, the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Technical uses include the botanical incomplete flower, lacking one of the usual parts (1760),^(OED 1989) and in logic and mathematics a formal system that contains true statements it cannot prove, from 1932.^(OED 1989) In American football an incomplete pass is one not caught.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1380 – incomplete.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1656 – to incomplete (verb, rare).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1760 – incomplete flower.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1932 – incomplete system (logic).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Not complete or finished; lacking a part.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(logic, mathematics)'' Of a formal system, containing statements that can be neither proved nor disproved within it.^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(American football)'' Of a pass, not caught.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[incompletely]]

+ * [[incompleteness]]

+ * [[subincomplete]]

+ * [[incomplete dominance]]

+ * [[incomplete flower]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[incompletion]]

+ * [[complete]]

+ * [[completion]]

+ * [[replete]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}