Perfectibilit

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The inherent capacity of a thing, especially a human being or society, to be improved until it reaches a state of flawlessness
2. The quality of being able to be brought closer to an ideal state of completeness through development or refinement over time
3. The potential that something possesses to be refined and advanced toward a condition free of all faults or deficiencies

Etymology: Jean-Jacques Rousseau gave this idea much of its philosophical weight. In his "Discourse on the Origin of Inequality", he argued that humans alone possess "perfectibilité", a capacity to improve themselves over time. He saw it as both our greatest gift and the source of our troubles, since animals stay much as they always were while people learn, invent, and gradually change their circumstances. The French noun rests on the Latin adjective "perfectibilis", meaning capable of being brought to completion. That adjective comes from "perficere", "to finish or complete", built from "per-" (thoroughly) and "facere" (to make or do). The ending traces to the Latin "-bilitas", which turned adjectives into abstract nouns for a quality, so the English form names the quality of being perfectible.