perfection

English

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perfection

Etymology

From Middle English perfeccioun, from Old French perfection, from Latin perfectiō. Equivalent to perfect +‎ -ion. Displaced native Old English fulfremednes.

Pronunciation

(US) IPA^(key): /pɚˈfɛk.ʃən/
- Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -ɛkʃən

Noun

perfection (countable and uncountable, plural perfections)

The quality or state of being perfect or complete, so that nothing substandard remains; the highest attainable state or degree of excellence.
near-perfection

total perfection

aim for perfection

lack perfection

attain perfection

be far off perfection
- 1977, Ashford & Simpson, “Don't Cost You Nothing”, in Send It:
  Think, think about the way of rejection / You're not the only one reaching for perfection / Think, think about the reason you exist / I got something you might not wanna miss
A quality, endowment, or acquirement completely excellent; an ideal; faultlessness; especially, the divine attribute of complete excellence.
- a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:
  No tongue can her perfections tell
(law) The process or act of establishing official recognition for a legal claim, generally in the context of security interests.

Quotations

1784, William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c., PREFACE
THE favourable reception the Orrery has met with from Perſons of the firſt diſtinction, and from Gentlemen and Ladies in general, has induced me to add to it ſeveral new improvements in order to give it a degree of Perfection; and diſtinguiſh it from others ; which by Piracy, or Imitation, may be introduced to the Public.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

being perfect

Arabic: كَمَال m (kamāl), إتقان m (ʔitqān)
Asturian: perfeición f
Azerbaijani: mükəmməliyyət
Bulgarian: съвършенство (bg) n (sǎvǎršenstvo)
Catalan: perfecció (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 完美 (zh) (wánměi), 完善 (zh) (wánshàn), 完成 (zh) (wánchéng)
Czech: dokonalost (cs) f
Dutch: perfectie (nl) f
Estonian: täiuslikkus
Finnish: täydellisyys (fi)
French: perfection (fr) f
Galician: perfección (gl) f
Georgian: სრულყოფილება (srulq̇opileba), იდეალურობა (idealuroba), უზადობა (uzadoba), უნაკლობა (unaḳloba)
German: Vollkommenheit (de) f, Perfektion (de) f
Gothic: 𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌿𐌷𐍄𐍃 f (ustauhts)
Greek: τελειότητα (el) f (teleiótita)
Ancient Greek: τελειότης f (teleiótēs)
Hebrew: הִשׁתַלְמוּת (hishtalmut)
Hindi: पूर्णता (hi) f (pūrṇatā)
Hungarian: tökéletesség (hu), tökély (hu)
Indonesian: kesempurnaan (id)
Irish: foirfeacht f
Italian: perfezione (it) f
Japanese: 完全 (ja) (kanzen), 完璧 (ja) (kampeki), 万全 (ja) (banzen)
Korean: 완벽 (ko) (wanbyeok), 완전 (ko) (wanjeon)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: bêkêmasîtî (ku)
Latin: perfectiō f
Māori: paruhitanga
Occitan: perfeccion (oc) f
Old English: fulfremednes f
Persian: کمال (fa) (kamâl)
Polish: doskonałość (pl) f, perfekcja (pl) f
Portuguese: perfeição (pt) f
Romanian: perfecțiune (ro) f
Russian: соверше́нство (ru) n (soveršénstvo)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: саврше́нство n

Latin: savršénstvo (sh) n
Spanish: perfección (es) f
Swahili: ukamilifu (sw)
Tagalog: perpeksiyon
Thai: ความสมบูรณ์ (th) (kwaam sŏmboon)
Turkish: mükemmellik (tr), mükemmeliyet (tr), kusursuzluk (tr)
Ukrainian: доскона́лість f (doskonálistʹ)
Vietnamese: sự hoàn hảo

Verb

perfection (third-person singular simple present perfections, present participle perfectioning, simple past and past participle perfectioned)

(now uncommon and nonstandard, transitive) To perfect.
- 1762, [Samuel] Foote, The Orators. […], Dublin: […] Thomas Richey, […], →OCLC, Act I, page 10:
  My plan, gentlemen, is to be conſider'd as a ſuperſtructure on that admirable foundation laid by the modern profeſſor of Engliſh, both our labours tending to the ſame general end; the perfectioning of our countrymen in a moſt eſſential article, the right uſe of their native language.
- 1770, William Woty, Mock Invocation to Genius‎^[1]:
  Sooner I'd kneel unto the modern nine / Alike perfectioned, though a virgin's name / They cannot boast […]
- 2001 December 3, OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol, “AHSM Storytellers, Profiles”, in alt.hentai.sailor-moon‎^[2] (Usenet):
  The most vain of the Assistants, she knows she's beautiful and let it know to the world. Acts like an ojousama and spends most of her time perfectioning her make-up.