imperfect








adjective

  1. of, relating to, or characterized by defects or weaknesses: imperfect vision.
  2. not perfect; lacking completeness: imperfect knowledge.
  3. Grammar. noting action or state still in process at some temporal point of reference, particularly in the past.
  4. Law. being without legal effect or support; unenforceable.
  5. Botany. (of a flower) diclinous.
  6. Music. of or relating to the interval of a major or minor third or sixth.Compare perfect(def 13a).

noun Grammar.

  1. the imperfect tense.
  2. another verb formation or construction with imperfect meaning.
  3. a form in the imperfect, as Latin portābam, “I was carrying.”

adjective

  1. exhibiting or characterized by faults, mistakes, etc; defective
  2. not complete or finished; deficient
  3. botany
    1. (of flowers) lacking functional stamens or pistils
    2. (of fungi) not undergoing sexual reproduction
  4. grammar denoting a tense of verbs used most commonly in describing continuous or repeated past actions or events, as for example was walking as opposed to walked
  5. law (of a trust, an obligation, etc) lacking some necessary formality to make effective or binding; incomplete; legally unenforceableSee also executory (def. 1)
  6. music
    1. (of a cadence) proceeding to the dominant from the tonic, subdominant, or any chord other than the dominant
    2. of or relating to all intervals other than the fourth, fifth, and octaveCompare perfect (def. 9)

noun

  1. grammar
    1. the imperfect tense
    2. a verb in this tense
adj.

mid-14c., imperfite, from Old French imparfait, from Latin imperfectus “unfinished, incomplete,” from assimilated form of in- “not, opposite of” (see in- (1)) + perfectus (see perfect). Replaced mid-16c. by the Latin form. Related: Imperfectly.

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