imperfectus Latin · revision 31706

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=la perficiō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ɪm.pɛrˈfɛk.tʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [im.perˈfɛk.tus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''imperfectus''' (feminine imperfecta, neuter imperfectum, comparative imperfectior); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|in-|perfectus|t1=not|t2=complete]],^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) the past participle of [[m|la|perficiō|t=to complete]].^(Wiktionary) The Thesaurus compares [[grc|ἀτελής|tr=atelḗs|t=incomplete]].^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Thesaurus and Köbler find it from Cicero on;^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) Lewis & Short note that it is not frequent until after the Augustan age.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means not complete in every respect, unfinished or imperfect, of things and abstract ideas.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In law it is a transaction that is not yet valid, as a sale in the ''Digest''.^(OLD 2012) Of actions it is not completed, as Caesar's envoy who returned from the senate with his business unfinished, and in Celsus food is undigested.^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary also gives a grammatical sense, the imperfect.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “unfinished, imperfect, incomplete”.^(Stelten 1995) It remains in use in medieval texts, as in Albertus Magnus.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar of unfinished business.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 14–37 AD – Celsus of undigested food.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|unfinished|alt=Unfinished]], incomplete, [[m|en|imperfect]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(law)'' Not yet valid.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Of actions, not completed; of food, [[m|en|undigested]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(grammar)'' Imperfect.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[imperfectiō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[perfectus]]

+ * [[perficio|alt=perficiō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}