A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1475-1599
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Imperfite, -fyt(e, -fit, a. [ME. imperfite (c 1340).] Imperfect.
1. Unfinished, incomplete, defective, faulty. a1500 Henr. Fab. 1637.
Mannis saull is febill … , Of vnderstanding waik and imperfite 1501 Doug. Pal. Hon. ii. 224.
Breif … quair of eloquence all quite, With russet weid and sentence imperfite 1513 Id. Æn. i. Prol. 360.
Besyde Latyn our langage is imperfyte 1513 Ib. iv. Prol. 112.
Thare beyn twa luffis, perfyte and imperfyte 1558-66 Knox II. 178.
Gif yow sall think meit scho sall thus leif the peace imperfite
2. Of persons: Deficient in accomplishment or action. a1508 Kennedy Flyt. 498.
Gude maister Gilliam gukkis, Our imperfyte in poetry or in prose 1501 Doug. Pal. Hon. i. 519.
Ane me fand, quhilk said … ‘Auant veillane, thow reclus imperfit’ c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace (1570) xi. 1432.
Blame nocht the buik, thocht I be imperfyte [ms. wnperfyt] c1590 J. Stewart 3/13.
Ane ȝoung and imperfyt prentes 1587-99 Hume viii. 70.
I am fraill and imperfite
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"Imperfite adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/imperfite>
