perfective
|per-fec-tive|
🇺🇸
/pɚˈfɛktɪv/
🇬🇧
/pəˈfektɪv/
expressing completed action
Etymology
'perfective' originates from Modern English, formed from 'perfect' + the adjectival suffix '-ive'; 'perfect' ultimately comes from Latin 'perfectus' (from 'perficere'), where 'per-' meant 'completely' and 'facere'/'ficere' meant 'to do or make'.
'perfective' developed from Middle English 'perfect' (itself from Old French and Latin 'perfectus') with the English suffix '-ive' to form the Modern English adjective 'perfective'; the specialized grammatical sense arose later in linguistic terminology.
The root originally meant 'made complete' or 'finished'; over time the derived adjective 'perfective' retained the general sense of 'completing' and acquired a specialized meaning referring to the grammatical notion of completed action.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the perfective (the grammatical aspect expressing completed action).
When discussing aspect, linguists often contrast the perfective with the imperfective.
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Noun 2
noun form meaning the property or quality of being perfective (grammatical property).
Researchers examined the perfectivity of certain verb forms.
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Adjective 1
relating to the grammatical aspect that expresses a completed action or a single, bounded event (the perfective aspect).
In Russian, the perfective aspect marks actions as completed.
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Adjective 2
serving to complete or make perfect; completing or perfecting (rare/archaic use).
The last polishing was a perfective step in the production process.
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Adverb 1
adverb form of 'perfective'.
The speaker described the event perfectively to emphasize its completion.
Last updated: 2025/12/01 01:23