Imperfective
imperfect (?), a. (L.imperfectus: pref. im- not + perfectus perfect:
cf. F imparfait, whence OE. imparfit. See
Perfect.) 1. Not perfect; not complete in
all its parts; wanting a part; deective; deficient.
Something he left imperfect in the
state. Shak.
Why, then, your other senses grow
imperfect. Shak.
2. Wanting in some elementary organ that is
essential to successful or normal activity.
He . . . stammered like a child, or an amazed,
imperfect person. Jer. Taylor.
3. Not fulfilling its design; not realizing
an ideal; not conformed to a standard or rule; not satisfying the
taste or conscience; esthetically or morally defective.
Nothing imperfect or deficient left
Of all that he created. Milton.
Then say not mans imperfect, Heaven in
fault;
Say rather, mans as perfect as he ought.
Pope.
Imperfect arch, an arch of less than a
semicircle; a skew arch. -- Imperfect cadence
(Mus.), one not ending with the tonic, but with the
dominant or some other chord; one not giving complete rest; a half
close. -- Imperfect consonances (Mus.),
chords like the third and sixth, whose ratios are less simple
than those of the fifth and forth. -- Imperfect
flower (Bot.), a flower wanting either stamens
or pistils. Gray. -- Imperfect interval
(Mus.), one a semitone less than perfect; as, an
imperfect fifth. -- Imperfect number
(Math.), a number either greater or less than the sum of
its several divisors; in the former case, it is called also a
defective number; in the latter, an abundant
number. -- Imperfect obligations
(Law), obligations as of charity or gratitude, which
cannot be enforced by law. -- Imperfect power
(Math.), a number which can not be produced by taking any
whole number or vulgar fraction, as a factor, the number of times
indicated by the power; thus, 9 is a perfect square, but an
imperfect cube. -- Imperfect tense
(Gram.), a tense expressing past time and incomplete
action.
imperfect (?), n. (Gram.)The imperfect tense; or the form of a verb denoting the
imperfect tense.
imperfect , v. t. To makeimperfect. (Obs.)
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