Where does “imperfectly” come from?
Imperfectly comes from Middle English -ly added to imperfect, which derives from Latin imperfectus, tracing back through Proto-Germanic galīkaz to Proto-Indo-European līg- and ḱóm.
imperfectly (English): In an imperfect manner or degree; not fully or...
Definitions
- In an imperfect manner or degree; not fully or...
Ancestry of “imperfectly”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | imperfect | not perfect; unisexual: having either male or... |
| 2 | Middle English | imperfit | — |
| 3 | Old French | imparfit | — |
| 4 | Latin | imperfectus | unfinished, incomplete; imperfect |
| 5 | Latin | perfectus | achieved, executed, carried out, finished,... |
| 6 | Latin | perficiō | to finish, complete |
| 7 | Latin | faciō | to do |
| 8 | Latin | -torium | nominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative... |
| 9 | Latin | -tōrius | ory |
| 10 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |