parfaitement French · revision 16814

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (parfitement)|origins=la perficiō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /paʁ.fɛt.mɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''parfaitement'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''parfitement'' (about 1050), ''parfetement'' (about 1180); ''parfaitement'' from the 13th century.^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|fr|parfait|-ment]], on the feminine of the adjective.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873) [[parfait]] continues [[la|perfectus|t=completed, perfect]], the past participle of [[m|la|perficiō|t=to finish]].^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ Compare [[pro|perfeitament]], [[es|perfectamente]], [[pt|perfeitamente]] and [[it|perfettamente]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “completely, totally” is found about 1260 in Philippe de Novare, or about 1130 in ''Eneas'' according to the GLLF.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) In 16th-century writers it often intensifies an adjective, as in Amyot's ''la parfaittement belle et bonne temperature de sa personne''.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ 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.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Parfitement'', ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1180 – ''Parfetement''.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * c. 1260 – “Completely”, Philippe de Novare.^(TLFi)

+ * 1784 – As an affirmative “certainly!”, Diderot.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|perfectly]], in a perfect way: ''savoir parfaitement une langue''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Very well: ''je comprends parfaitement''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Completely, [[m|en|absolutely]], utterly: ''c'est parfaitement clair'', ''cela m'est parfaitement égal''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(as an answer)'' Certainly, exactly, quite so.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[parfait]]

+ * [[imparfait]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}