[per.fect] adj [ME parfit, fr. OF, fr. L perfectus, fr. pp. of perficere to carry out, perfect, fr. per- thoroughly + facere to make, do--more at do] (14c) 1 a: being entirely without fault or defect: flawless "a ~ diamond" b: satisfying all requirements: accurate c: corresponding to an ideal standard or abstract concept "a ~ gentleman" d: faithfully reproducing the original; specif: letter-perfect e: legally valid
2: expert, proficient "practice makes ~" 3 a: pure, total b: lacking in no essential detail: complete c obs: sane d: absolute, unequivocal "enjoys ~ happiness" e: of an extreme kind: unmitigated "a ~ brat" "an act of ~ foolishness"
4. obs: 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. obs 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 ~ insect" b: having both stamens and pistils in the same flower "a ~ flower" -- per.fect.ness n syn 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".
[2]per.fect vt (14c) 1: to bring to final form
2: to make perfect: improve, refine -- per.fect.er n [3]per.fect n (1841): the perfect tense of a language; also: a verb form in the perfect tense