See Also: IMPERFECT(law)
imperfect(2)(dictionary)
imperfect(1)(dictionary)
imperfect 2, noun(dictionary)
imperfect 1, adjective(dictionary)
Imperfect market(finance)
Imperfect competition(finance)
Imperfect Market(money)
imperfect state(medicine)
imperfect stage(medicine)

imperfect(1) (iou)



imperfect adjective & noun. ME.
[Old & mod. French imparfait from Latin imperfectus, formed as IM-2 + perfectus PERFECT adjective.]
A. adjective.
I.
Lacking some quality or attribute necessary for full efficiency or normality; substandard; faulty. ME.
Lacking some usual or necessary part; not fully formed or done; incomplete. LME.
Committing a fault, vicious, evil. LME-M17.
Of a person: not fully accomplished or instructed in. L16.
II.
Grammar. Designating, being in, or pertaining to a verbal aspect or a tense denoting a (usu. past) action going on but not completed. LME.
Music. Orig. (of a note), that is twice rather than three times the length of a note of the next lower denomination. Later (of an interval), that is other than a fourth, fifth, or octave. LME.
Math. (Of a number) not equal to the sum of its factors; (of a square, cube, etc.) having an irrational root. M16-E18.
Botany. Of a flower: lacking some normal part; now esp. lacking functional stamens or pistils. E18.
b. Mycology. (Of a state or stage in the fungal life cycle) characterized by asexual spores, or by absence of spores; (of a fungus) in the asexual state, esp. having no (known) sexual state. L19.
Law. Not binding. M19.
Special collocations: imperfect cadence Music a cadence ending on a chord other than the direct chord of the tonic. imperfect competition Economics a commercial situation in which elements of monopoly allow individual producers or consumers to exercise some control over a market price. imperfect induction Philosophy induction from an incomplete set of instances. imperfect rhyme a rhyme that only partly satisfies the usual criteria (e.g. English love and move).
b. noun.
Grammar. The imperfect aspect or tense; a word, form, etc., in an imperfect aspect or tense. L19.
In pl. Goods of imperfect quality that must be sold at a reduced price. M20.
imperfectly adverb LME.
imperfectness noun LME.