perfect

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English parfit, from Anglo-French, from Latin perfectus, from past participle of perficere to carry out, perfect, from per- thoroughly + facere to make, do — more at do Date: 14th century 1. a. being entirely without fault or defect ; flawless <

a perfect diamond

> b. satisfying all requirements ; accurate c. corresponding to an ideal standard or abstract concept <

a perfect gentleman

> d. faithfully reproducing the original; specifically letter-perfect e. legally valid 2. expert, proficient <

practice makes perfect

> 3. a. pure, total b. lacking in no essential detail ; complete c. obsolete sane d. absolute, unequivocal <

enjoys perfect happiness

> e. of an extreme kind ; unmitigated <

a perfect brat

> <

an act of perfect foolishness

> 4. obsolete mature 5. of, relating to, or constituting a verb form or verbal that expresses an action or state completed at the time of speaking or at a time spoken of 6. obsolete a. certain, sure b. contented, satisfied 7. of a musical interval belonging to the consonances unison, fourth, fifth, and octave which retain their character when inverted and when raised or lowered by a half step become augmented or diminished 8. a. sexually mature and fully differentiated <

a perfect insect

> b. having both stamens and pistils in the same flower <

a perfect flower

> • perfectness noun Synonyms: perfect, whole, entire, intact mean not lacking or faulty in any particular. perfect implies the soundness and the excellence of every part, element, or quality of a thing frequently as an unattainable or theoretical state <

a perfect set of teeth

>. whole suggests a completeness or perfection that can be sought, gained, or regained <

felt like a whole person again after vacation

>. entire implies perfection deriving from integrity, soundness, or completeness of a thing <

the entire Beethoven corpus

>. intact implies retention of perfection of a thing in its natural or original state <

the boat survived the storm intact

>. II. transitive verb Date: 14th century 1. to bring to final form 2. to make perfect ; improve, refine • perfecter noun III. noun Date: 1841 the perfect tense of a language; also a verb form in the perfect tense