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DictionaryRoot: facere
Latin

facere

do, make

Forms

  • fac-
  • fact- — Latin stem of the form meaning ‘done’ or ‘made.’
  • -fic- — Used in Latin compounds.
  • -fect- — Stem of the form meaning ‘done’ or ‘made’ in Latin compounds.
  • -fy — English ending developed from Latin -ficare, a formation based on this verb.

Origin

Reconstructed Proto-Indo-European *dheh₁-, ‘put; set; do.’

Note

Especially productive in formations meaning ‘cause to become.’

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adjective

imperfect

im-PUR-fikt/ɪmˈpɜːrfɪkt/

Having faults or lacking completeness.

The imperfect bowl has an uneven rim and a small glaze blemish.

A handmade glazed ceramic bowl on a potter's workbench, usable but visibly slightly uneven lopsided rim and one small glaze blemish, potter's hands gently examine it.
Etymology
imLatinnot; without
+perLatinthrough; thoroughly
+fectLatindo, make

The pieces express something not completely made or finished. Completion came to imply that nothing was lacking, so its negative covers both unfinished things and things with flaws.

In context

N. Stephan Kinsella74:59
it's better to let the even imperfect free-market we have now just sort it out I mean we do have competition even if it's not as grainy or granular as we would like
KOL104 | This Week in Law 97: God Creates We Patent IP, Net Neutrality, etc 2011

More examples

  • The store sells imperfect bowls at a discount.
  • My memory of that summer is imperfect.
  • Doctors sometimes make decisions with imperfect information.

Forms

imperfect · more imperfect · most imperfect

imperfection noun — A fault or lack of completeness.

imperfectly adverb — With faults or without full completeness.

Similar words

flawed
Emphasizes specific faults rather than missing parts or information.
incomplete
Emphasizes missing parts rather than faults in what exists.
defective
Usually describes faults that prevent something from working properly.