See Also: Perfect-Perfect - Poker(gambling)
perfect(2)(dictionary)
PERFECT(law)
Perfect(medicine)
perfect(1)(dictionary)
The Perfect Cup(tourism)
perfect gas(encyclopedia)
past perfect(dictionary)
letter-perfect(dictionary)
Perfect Self-defense(law)

perfect(1) (iou)



perfect adjective, adverb, & noun. Orig. parfit. ME.
[Old & mod. French parfit(e) from Latin perfectus pa. pple of perficere accomplish, formed as PER-1 + facere make. Present spelling assim. to Latin perfectus. Cf. PUFFICK.]
A. adjective.
I. a. Of a legal act: duly completed. ME-M16.
b. Of a foetus: fully formed. LME-M16.
c. Grown up, adult (esp. legally). LME-L18.
Fully accomplished; thoroughly versed or trained in, or conversant with. arch. ME.
W. Whewell The other persons..not being very perfect in their duties.
b. Prepared, made ready. LME-M16.
c. Thoroughly learned, esp. by heart or by rote; (of a person) having learned a lesson or part thoroughly. L16.
Shakespeare Venus & Adonis The lesson is but plain, And once made perfect never lost again.
Having all the essential elements, qualities, or characteristics; not deficient in any particular; being an ideal example of. ME.
G. Greene If he had wanted to hide, here was the perfect hiding-place. R. C. Hutchinson No good sending a perfect gentleman to bargain with politicians. S. Hastings During a period of perfect Indian summer, the Blitz began. A. C. Clarke They rode in perfect silence.
b. Of sound mind, sane. LME-E17.
c. Of a geometrical figure, a point in time, etc.: exact, precise. LME.
J. Tyndall Heavy hail had fallen..the stones being perfect spheres. L. Deighton Leaned back in his chair and blew a perfect smoke ring.
d. Of a copy, representation, etc.: accurately reproducing or reflecting the original. M16.
Which? You could..make perfect copies with no loss of quality.
e. Unqualified; pure; absolute, complete, utter. Also (chiefly colloq. & dial.) mere, sheer; unmitigated. L16.
T. H. Huxley To a perfect stranger..such a method of description would be unintelligible. G. B. Shaw You are a perfect baby in the things I..understand. I. Murdoch My life's been a perfect chaos for nearly a year.
Free from any flaw or defect of quality; faultless; in a state of supreme or (occas.) near excellence. ME.
T. Hardy You must be deemed perfect to-day at least. I. McEwan My English is not perfect. V. Bramwell Most adults over 45 won't have perfect vision and may need glasses.
b. spec. Of or marked by supreme moral excellence; holy; immaculate. ME.
Of a statement or speaker: definite, certain. rare. M16-E17.
In a state of complete satisfaction; contented. rare (Shakes.). Only in E17.
II. techn.
Math. Of a number: equal to the sum of its factors. LME.
Music. Of an interval: belonging to the group comprising the fourth, the fifth, and the octave. Formerly also, (of a note) three times the length of a note of the next lower denomination. LME.
Grammar. Designating or pertaining to a verbal aspect or tense denoting a completed action or a state or habitual action which began in past time, (a) in time regarded as present (also present perfect) (in English usu. has or have done, has or have been doing), (b) past perfect, in time regarded as past or preceding a particular past point in time (in English usu. had done, had been doing), (c) future perfect, in time regarded as future or following a particular future point in time (in English usu. shall or will have done, shall or will have been doing). L15.
Physiology, Anatomy, etc. Having characteristics developed to the fullest or most advanced degree; typical. L17.
Botany. Of a flower: having all parts present; esp. having both male and female organs present and functional. E18.
Entomology. Of or in the finally developed or adult state. M19.
Physics. Ideal, theoretical; obeying mathematical laws exactly. M19.
Printing. (Of a sheet) printed on both sides; (of a ream) comprising 516 sheets. M19.
Mycology. (Of a state or stage in the fungal life cycle) marked by the production of sexual spores; (of a fungus) in the sexual state. L19.
Designating a form of bookbinding in which the leaves are attached to the spine by gluing rather than folding and sewing. L19.
Economics. Designating (notional or actual) ideal market conditions in which adverse factors such as restricted information and dominant market shares are absent. L19.
Math.
a. Of a group: such that the subgroup generated by the set of commutators of the group is the group itself. L19.
b. Of a set of points: closed, and such that every neighbourhood of each point of the set contains at least one other point of the set. E20.
Special collocations: perfect cadence Music a cadence consisting of the direct chord of the tonic preceded by a dominant or subdominant chord, and forming a full close. perfect crime an ingenious crime that cannot be detected or solved. perfect gas = ideal gas s.v. IDEAL adjective. perfect pitch the ability to recognize or reproduce the exact pitch of a note; absolute pitch.
b. adverb. = PERFECTLY. obsolete exc. poet. & dial. LME.
C. noun.
That which is perfect, perfection. rare. LME.
Ecclesiastical History. A Catharist who had received the spiritual baptism and thereby accepted all the precepts of Albigensian doctrine. M18.
Grammar. (A word or form in) the perfect aspect or tense or (present perfect, past perfect, future perfect) one of the perfect aspects or tenses. M19.
prophetic perfect: see PROPHETIC 1.