| 释义 |
imperfection|ɪmpəˈfɛkʃən|
[a. F. imperfection (12th c., Oxf. Ps.), or ad. L. imperfectiōn-em, f. imperfectus imperfect a.]
1. The condition or quality of being imperfect (usually in sense 2 of the adj.); incompleteness; defectiveness, faultiness.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 436 Seculer lordship þat clerkis hanne nou smacchiþ imperfeccioun on many maner. c1386Chaucer Pars. T. ⁋933 Ihesu crist is entierly al good in hym nys noon inperfeccion. c1450tr. De Imitatione i. iii. 5 All maner perfeccioun in þis worlde haþ a maner of imperfeccion annexed þerto. 1545T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde (1564) 18 b, Imperfection is, when that any perticuler creature doth lacke any propertie, instrument, or qualitie which commonly by nature is in all other, or the more part, of that kynd. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 423 Man by number is to manifest His single imperfection, and beget Like of his like. 1772Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) II. 65 [They] bear the marks of human imperfection. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 44 The necessary imperfection of language seems to require that we should view the truth under more than one aspect.
2. (with pl.) An instance of this quality or condition; a detail or particular in which a thing is imperfect or faulty; a defect, fault, blemish.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. x. x. (1495) 380 Asshes hath this defawte and inperfeccyon, that though he be euery daye moysted..yet he is alwaye barayn. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 1 b, Wherin..I myght loke, as in a..lokyng glasse..and perceyue myne owne imperfeccyons. 1602Shakes. Ham. i. v. 79 No reckoning made, but sent to my account With all my imperfections on my head. 1774C. J. Phipps Voy. N. Pole 87 Error [to] be attributed to the imperfections in the manner of measuring the distance. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 8 He has left imperfections, which would have been removed if he had lived a few years longer.
†3. Mus. The making of a note ‘imperfect’, or the condition of its being ‘imperfect’: see imperfect a. 7 a. Obs.
1597Morley Introd. Mus. 24 Imperfection..is the taking away of the third part of a perfect notes value. 1614T. Ravenscroft (title) A briefe Discovrse of..Charact'ring the Degrees by their Perfection, Imperfection and Diminution, in measurable Musicke, against the common Practise and Custome of the Times. 1880C. H. H. Parry in Grove Dict. Mus. I. 767 Other ways in which the Perfection of certain notes may be changed to Imperfection.
4. a. Printing. pl. Letters that are wanting in a fount; types cast to make up a deficiency in a fount.
1681–5Fell Let. to Marshall 24 Oct. (MS.), The compositor upon Mr. Junius his lexicon wants several imperfections, that we cannot supply without his Matrices. 1683–4J. Moxon Mech. Exerc. Printing (1962) 344 When the Founder has not Cast a proportionable number of each sort of Letter, the wanting Letters are called Imperfections, as making the rest of the Fount unperfect. 1771P. Luckombe Hist. & Art of Printing 243 Less occasion to cast imperfections, which often prove very hurtful to a new fount of letter; as they are seldom exact to the prior sorts..: so that, was it not for the eagerness of the Compositor,..many a sort, cast for perfecting, would be returned. 1808C. Stower Printer's Gram. 56 It should be an invariable rule with master printers to examine imperfections before they go into the hands of the compositor. 1888C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 61 Imperfections, short sorts required to perfect a typefounder's bill for a fount of a certain weight. 1924Southward's Mod. Printing (ed. 5) I. xx. 124 The fount should be carefully examined with a view of ascertaining whether there are any imperfections—the founder's storekeepers sometimes making mistakes in the apportionment of particular letters. 1962Davis & Carter in J. Moxon Mech. Exerc. Printing 344 (footnote) Typefounders charge for sorts at a higher rate than for founts; but sorts to supplement a fount, if ordered within three months of delivery of the fount, are called ‘imperfections’ and charged at fount-price.
b. Bookbinding. A surplus or missing sheet of a work.
1683–4J. Moxon Mech. Exerc. Printing (1962) 315 He Doubles or Quires up all the other Heaps and..writes upon them Imperfections of (the Title of the Book), and Writes on it the Signature of the Sheet that is Wanting. 1790A. Smith Let. 25 May in Sotheby Catal. (19 July 1937) lot 74, The bookbinder informed me..that one of the copies is imperfect, wanting the sheet E. I will beg the favour of you to send down the imperfection by the first parcel you send to Scotland. 1835J. Hannett Bibliopegia i. 13 If any sheet is wanting or belongs to another volume, or is a duplicate, the further progress of the work must be suspended, till the imperfection is procured or exchanged. 1888C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 61 Imperfections, sheets required by a binder to make good books imperfect through bad gathering, collating, or spoiled sheets. 1963Kenneison & Spilman Dict. Printing 95 Imperfections, sheets rejected by the binder and returned to the printer to be replaced. |