- perfect (adj.)
- early 13c., from O.Fr. parfit (11c.), from L. perfectus "completed," pp. of perficere "accomplish, finish, complete," from per- "completely" + facere "to perform" (see factitious). Often used in Eng. as an intensive (perfect stranger, etc.). The verb meaning "to bring to full development" is recorded from late 14c. Perfectionist is 1650s, originally theological, "one who believes moral perfection may be attained in earthly existence;" sense of "one only satisfied with the highest standards" is from 1934.
- perfecta
- 1971, from Amer.Sp. perfecta, shortened from quiniela perfecta "perfect quiniela," a bet in horseracing, originally "a game of chance," from O.Sp. quina "game of dice," from L. quini "five each."
- parfait
- "kind of frozen dessert," 1894, from Fr., lit. "perfect" (see perfect).
- pluperfect
- 1530, shortened from L. (tempus praeteritum) plus (quam) perfectum "(past tense) more (than) perfect." Translates Gk. khronos hypersyntelikos. See plus and perfect.
- Bodhisattva
- 1828, from Skt., lit. "one whose essence is perfect knowledge," from bodhi "perfect knowledge" (see Buddha) + sattva "reality, being."
- utopia
- 1551, from Mod.L. Utopia, lit. "nowhere," coined by Thomas More (and used as title of his book, 1516, about an imaginary island enjoying perfect legal, social, and political systems), from Gk. ou "not" + topos "place." Extended to "any perfect place," 1613. Utopian originally meant "having no known location" (1609); sense of "impossibly visionary, ideal" is from 1621; as a noun meaning "visionary idealist" it is first recorded c.1873 (earlier in this sense was utopiast, 1854).
- Jeeves
- "personification of the perfect valet," 1930, from character in P.G. Wodehouse novels.
- ideal
- 1410, from L.L. idealis "existing in idea," from L. idea in the Platonic sense (see idea). Sense of "perfect" first recorded 1613. The noun meaning "perfect person or thing" is first recorded 1796 in a translation of Kant. The abstract idealism, also from 1796, originally meant "belief that reality is made up only of ideas." Idealist "one who represents things in an ideal form" is from 1829, as is idealistic. Ideally "in the best conceivable situation" is from 1840. Idée fixe (1836) is from Fr., lit. "fixed idea."
- accomplished
- late 15c., "perfect as a result of training," pp. adj. from accomplish (q.v.). Meaning "completed" is from 1570s.
- eureka
- c.1600, from Gk. heureka "I have found (it)," first pers. sing. perfect active indicative of heuriskein "to find." Supposedly shouted by Archimedes (c.287-212 B.C.E.) when he solved a problem that had been set to him: determining whether goldsmiths had adulterated the metal in the crown of Hiero II, king of Syracuse.
- dreamy
- 1560s, "full of dreams," from dream + -y. Meaning "perfect, ideal," attested from 1941, Amer.Eng. teen slang. Cf. Dreamboat "romantically desirable person" (1947).
- simile
- 1393, from L. simile "a like thing," neuter of similis "like" (see similar). "A simile, to be perfect, must both illustrate and ennoble the subject." [Johnson].
- teleology
- "study of final causes," 1740, from Mod.L. teleologia, coined 1728 by Ger. philosopher Baron Christian von Wolff (1679-1754) from Gk. teleos "entire, perfect, complete," prop. gen. of telos "end, goal, result;" see tele- + -logia.
- critic
- 1580s, from L. criticus, from Gk. kritikos "able to make judgments," from krinein "to separate, decide" (see crisis). The Eng. word always had overtones of "censurer, faultfinder."
"A perfect judge will read each work of wit
With the same spirit that its author writ;"
[Pope, "An Essay on Criticism," 1709] - telegenic
- 1939, from television + ending from photogenic.
"Judith Barrett, pretty and blonde actress, is the first Telegenic Girl to go on record. In other words, she is the perfect type of beauty for television. ... She is slated for the first television motion picture." [Baltimore "Sun," Oct. 16, 1939]
- beau-ideal
- 1801, from Fr. beau idéal "the ideal beauty, beautifulness as an abstract ideal," in which beau is the subject, but as English usually puts the adjective first, the sense has shifted in English toward "perfect type or model."
- integrity
- c.1450, "wholeness, perfect condition," from O.Fr. integrité, from L. integritatem (nom. integritas) "soundness, wholeness," from integer "whole" (see integer). Sense of "uncorrupted virtue" is from 1548.
- cyber
- as a prefix, ultimately from cybernetics (q.v.). It enjoyed explosive use with the rise of the Internet early 1990s. One researcher (Nagel) counted 104 words formed from it by 1994. Cyberpunk (by 1986) and cyberspace were among the earliest.
Cyber is such a perfect prefix. Because nobody has any idea what it means, it can be grafted onto any old word to make it seem new, cool -- and therefore strange, spooky. ["New York" magazine, Dec. 23, 1996]
As a stand-alone, it is attested by 1998 as short for cybersex (which is attested by 1995). - nines
- in phrase to the nines "to perfection" (1787) first attested in Burns, apparently preserves the ancient notion of the perfection of the number as three times three (e.g. the nine Muses, etc.
"[T]he Book of St. Albans, in the sections on blasonry, lays great stress on the nines in which all perfect things (orders of angels, virtues, articles of chivalry, differences of coat armour, etc.) occur." [Weekley]
No one seems to consider that it might be a corruption of to then anes, lit. "for the one (purpose or occasion)," a similar construction to the one that yielded nonce (q.v.). - carousel
- "merry-go-round," 1673, earlier "playful tournament of knights in chariots or on horseback" (1650), from Fr. carrousel "a tilting match," from It. carusiello, possibly from carro "chariot," from L. carrus (see car).
"A new and rare invencon knowne by the name of the royalle carousell or tournament being framed and contrived with such engines as will not only afford great pleasure to us and our nobility in the sight thereof, but sufficient instruction to all such ingenious young gentlemen as desire to learne the art of perfect horsemanshipp." [letter of 1673]
- absolute
- late 14c., from M.Fr. absolut, from L. absolutus, pp. of absolvere "to set free, make separate" (see absolve). Most of the current senses were in L. Sense evolution is from "detached, disengaged," thus "perfect, pure." Meaning "despotic" (1610s) is from notion of "absolute in position;" hence absolutism. Absolute monarchy is recorded from 1735 (absolute king is recorded from 1610s); scientific absolute magnitude (1902), absolute value (1907) are 20c.
- mint (2)
- "place where money is coined," O.E. mynit "coin," from W.Gmc. *munita (cf. O.Fris. menote, M.Du. munte, Ger. münze), from L. moneta "mint" (see money). It meant "coin" at first in English; sense of "place where money is made" first recorded early 15c. General sense of "a vast sum of money" is from 1650s. The verb is 1540s, from the noun. Related: Minted; minting. The adj. meaning "perfect" (like a freshly minted coin) is from 1902; hence mint condition.
- Annuit Coeptis
- on the Great Seal of the United States of America, condensed by Charles Thompson, designer of the seal in its final form, from L. Juppiter omnipotes, audacibus annue coeptis "All-powerful Jupiter favor (my) daring undertakings," line 625 of book IX of Virgil's "Aeneid." The words also appear in Virgil's "Georgics," book I, line 40: Da facilem cursam, atque audacibus annue coeptis "Give (me) an easy course, and favor (my) daring undertakings." Thompson changed the imperative annue to annuit, the third person singular form of the same verb in either the present tense or the perfect tense. The motto also lacks a subject. The motto is often translated as "He (God) is favorable to our undertakings," but this is not the only possible translation. Thomson wrote: "The pyramid signifies Strength and Duration: The Eye over it & Motto allude to the many signal interpositions of providence in favour of the American cause." The original design (by William Barton) showed the pyramid and the motto Deo Favente Perennis "God favoring through the years."
- lobster
- O.E. loppestre, corruption of L. locusta "lobster, locust," by influence of O.E. loppe "spider," a variant of lobbe. Trilobite fossils in Worcestershire limestone quarries were known colloquially as locusts, which seems to be the generic word for "unidentified arthropod," as apple is for "foreign fruit." But OED says the L. word originally meant "lobster or some similar crustacean, the application to the locust being suggested by the resemblance in shape." Locusta in sense "lobster" also borrowed in Fr. (langouste), Old Cornish (legast). The ending of O.E. loppestre is the fem. agent noun suffix (cf. Baxter, Webster; see -ster), which approximated the L. sound. Slang for "a British soldier" since 1643, originally in reference to the jointed armor of the Roundhead cuirassiers, later (1660) to the red coat.
"Sir William Waller having received from London [in June 1643] a fresh regiment of five hundred horse, under the command of sir Arthur Haslerigge, which were so prodigiously armed that they were called by the other side the regiment of lobsters, because of their bright iron shells with which they were covered, being perfect curasseers." [Clarendon, "History of the Rebellion," 1647]
- have
- O.E. habban "to own, possess," from P.Gmc. *khaf- (cf. O.N. hafa, O.S. hebbjan, O.Fris. habba, Ger. haben, Goth. haban "to have"), from PIE *kap- "to grasp" (see capable). Not related to L. habere, despite similarity in form and sense; the L. cognate is capere "seize." O.E. second person singular present hæfst, third person singular present hæfð became M.E. hast, hath, while O.E. -bb- became -v- in have. The pp. had developed from O.E. gehæfd. Sense of "possess, have at one's disposal" (I have a book) is a shift from older languages, where the thing possessed was made the subject and the possessor took the dative case (e.g. L. est mihi liber "I have a book," lit. "there is to me a book"). Used as an auxiliary in O.E., too (esp. to form present perfect tense); the word has taken on more functions over time; Mod.Eng. he had better would have been O.E. him (dat.) wære betere. To have to for "must" (1570s) is from sense of "possess as a duty or thing to be done" (O.E.). Have-not "poor person" first recorded 1836. Phrase have a nice day first attested 1971. You never had it so good (1946) was said to be the stock answer to any complaints about U.S. Army life. Phrase have (noun), will (verb) is from 1954, originally from comedian Bob Hope, in the form Have tux, will travel; Hope described it as typical of vaudevillians' ads in "Variety," indicating a willingness to perform anywhere, any time.
- saint
- early 12c., from O.Fr. seinte, altering O.E. sanct, both from L. sanctus "holy, consecrated" (used as a noun in L.L.), prop. pp. of sancire "consecrate" (see sacred). Adopted into most Gmc. languages (cf. O.Fris. sankt, Du. sint, Ger. Sanct). Originally an adj. prefixed to the name of a canonized person; by c.1300 it came to be regarded as a noun.
"Saint - A dead sinner revised and edited. The Duchess of Orleans relates that the irreverent old calumniator, Marshal Villeroi, who in his youth had known St. Francis de Sales, said, on hearing him called saint: 'I am delighted to hear that Monsieur de Sales is a saint. He was fond of saying indelicate things, and used to cheat at cards. In other respects he was a perfect gentleman, though a fool.' " [Ambrose Bierce, "Devil's Dictionary," 1911]
Meaning "person of extraordinary holiness" is recorded from 1563. The verb meaning "to enroll (someone) among the saints" is attested from late 14c. Applied widely to living things, diseases, objects and phenomena, e.g. Saint Bernard, the breed of mastiff dogs (1839), so called because they were used by the monks of the hospice of the pass of St. Bernard (between Italy and Switzerland) to rescue snowbound travelers; St. Elmo's Fire "corposant" (1560s) is from It. fuoco di Sant'Elmo, named for the patron saint of Mediterranean sailors, a corruption of the name of St. Erasmus, an Italian bishop martyred in 303. - be
- O.E. beon, beom, bion "be, exist, come to be, become," from P.Gmc. *beo-, *beu-. This "b-root" is from PIE base *bheu-, *bhu- "grow, come into being, become," and in addition to the words in English it yielded German present first and second person sing. (bin, bist, from O.H.G. bim "I am," bist "thou art"), L. perf. tenses of esse (fui "I was," etc.), O.C.S. byti "be," Gk. phu- "become," O.Ir. bi'u "I am," Lith. bu'ti "to be," Rus. byt' "to be," etc. It also is behind Skt. bhavah "becoming," bhavati "becomes, happens," bhumih "earth, world."
The modern verb in its entirety represents the merger of two once-distinct verbs, the "b-root" represented by be and the am/was verb, which was itself a conglomerate. Roger Lass ("Old English") describes the verb as "a collection of semantically related paradigm fragments," while Weekley calls it "an accidental conglomeration from the different Old English dial[ect]s." It is the most irregular verb in Mod.E. and the most common. Collective in all Germanic languages, it has eight different forms in Modern English:
BE (infinitive, subjunctive, imperative)
AM (present 1st person singular)
ARE (present 2nd person singular and all plural)
IS (present 3rd person singular)
WAS (past 1st and 3rd persons singular)
WERE (past 2nd person singular, all plural; subjunctive)
BEING (progressive & present participle; gerund)
BEEN (perfect participle).
The paradigm in O.E. was:SING. PL. 1st pres. ic eom
ic beowe sind(on)
we beoð2nd pres. þu eart
þu bistge sind(on)
ge beoð3rd pres. he is
he biðhie sind(on)
hie beoð1st pret. ic wæs we wæron 2nd pret. þu wære ge waeron 3rd pret. heo wæs hie wæron 1st pret. subj. ic wære we wæren 2nd pret. subj. þu wære ge wæren 3rd pret. subj. Egcferð wære hie wæren
The "b-root" had no past tense in O.E., but often served as future tense of am/was. In 13c. it took the place of the infinitive, participle and imperative forms of am/was. Later its plural forms (we beth, ye ben, they be) became standard in M.E. and it made inroads into the singular (I be, thou beest, he beth), but forms of are claimed this turf in the 1500s and replaced be in the plural. For the origin and evolution of the am/was branches of this tangle, see am and was."That but this blow Might be the be all, and the end all." ["Macbeth" I.vii.5]