Perfectibilis

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A theoretical state where an entity reaches an ideal or flawless condition, signifying the utmost level of improvement attainable
2. The concept of an ultimate form of excellence that an individual or system strives to achieve, often seen as the pinnacle of development
3. An aspiration toward unachievable perfection, embodying the idea of constant enhancement towards an idealized goal

Etymology: Latin "perfectibilis" meant "capable of being perfected," not "perfect." It is built from "perficere," "to complete or carry through," and the suffix "-bilis," "able to be," so the sense is potential, not a finished state. The adjective "perfectible" came into English in the early modern period, and the abstract "perfectibility" arrived in the late eighteenth century. The word's fame comes from French. In his 1755 "Discourse on Inequality," Jean-Jacques Rousseau called "perfectibilité" the faculty that set humans apart from animals, the capacity to improve over time for better or worse. The Marquis de Condorcet later made human perfectibility the central theme of his "Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind," written in 1793 and published in 1795, arguing that people could advance indefinitely. That optimistic idea is why the English words still sound like a promise of progress.

Synonyms: perfectible, improvable, mendable

Antonyms: imperfectible, incorrigible