Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - perfect

 I. adjective  Etymology: Middle English parfit, from Anglo-French, from Latin ~us, from past participle of perficere to carry out, ~, from per- thoroughly + facere to make, do — more at do  Date: 14th century  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; specifically letter-~  e. legally valid  2. expert, proficient practice makes ~  3.  a. pure, total  b. lacking in no essential detail ; complete  c. obsolete sane  d. absolute, unequivocal enjoys ~ happiness  e. of an extreme kind ; unmitigated a ~ brat an act of ~ foolishness  4. obsolete 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. obsolete  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  • ~ness noun Synonyms:  ~, whole, entire, intact mean not lacking or faulty in any particular. ~ implies the soundness and the excellence of every part, element, or quality of a thing frequently as an unattainable or theoretical state a ~ set of teeth. whole suggests a completeness or ~ion that can be sought, gained, or regained felt like a whole person again after vacation. entire implies ~ion deriving from integrity, soundness, or completeness of a thing the entire Beethoven corpus. intact implies retention of ~ion of a thing in its natural or original state the boat survived the storm intact.  II. transitive verb  Date: 14th century  1. to bring to final form  2. to make ~ ; improve, refine  • ~er noun  III. noun  Date: 1841 the ~ tense of a language; also a verb form in the ~ tense