imperfectnessn.
/(ˌ)ɪmˈpəːfᵻk(t)nəs/, U.S. /ᵻmˈpərfək(t)nəs/ The quality or state of being imperfect (in various senses); imperfection.Now much less common than imperfection.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > imperfection > [noun]
unperfectnessc1350
imperfectnessa1382
imperfectiona1398
unfullmakinga1400
unperfectionc1400
failing1590
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Ecclus. xxxviii. 31 And his waking shal enourne the inparfitnesse.
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 70 Me thoȝt grete schame þat Sarzenes..schuld þus reproue vs of oure inperfiteness.
c1454 R. Pecock Folewer to Donet 152 Ful oft such inparfitnes is wonyd to be vsid in scole of philosofie.
1547 Certain Serm. or Homilies sig. ❧❧❧❧.ijv The imperfectnes of our awne workes, and the moste habundant grace of our sauior christ.
1590 J. Greenwood Answere Giffords Def. 9 If therbe allwaies spottes and imperfectnes in the true Church vpon earth.
1600 W. Cornwallis Ess. I. xxv. sig. N6 He cannot take away that leprosity, and Imperfectnesse that keepes base Mettalles from being the best.
1652 W. Dell Βαπτισμῶν διδαχή (new ed.) 7 Touching Johns baptism, I shall shew..the Weakness and Imperfectness of it in reference to Christ.
1747 J. Lind Lett. Navy (1757) i. 11 The integrity of the intention, will..attone..for the imperfectness of the performance.
1795 Lucubrations of Heir Apparent xiv. 90 The imperfectness of education, so often observable in persons of the first rank.
1830 S. T. Coleridge Notebks. (2002) V. 6449 The necessary imperfectness & unproperness of the words, by which I have sought not to express or convey, but to suggest & remind the Reader of, truths which he can find only in himself.
1853 J. Ruskin Stones of Venice II. vi. 167 I have only dwelt upon the rudeness of Gothic, or any other kind of imperfectness, as admirable, where it was impossible to get design or thought without it.
1909 W. N. Clarke Christian Doctr. of God i. vii. 115 We bring the perfection of God down toward our own imperfectness.
2017 Independent (Nexis) 13 Mar. 46 Each piece is handmade in the Hackney studio and you get irregular little nuggets... We love this gold ring for its striking imperfectness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1382