immaculate
Part of speech: adj
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: Catholicism
Christianity
Roman-Catholicism
biology
botany
entomology
natural-sciences
zoology
Etymology: From Late Middle English immaculat, immaculate (“blameless; flawless, spotless; specifically of the Virgin Mary: pure, undefiled”), borrowed from Latin immaculātus (“unstained”), from im- (negative prefix) + maculātus (“stained, spotted; defiled, polluted; (figurative) dishonoured”), the perfect passive participle of maculō (“to spot, stain; to defile, pollute; (figurative) to dishonour”), from macula (“a blemish, spot, stain; (figurative) blot on one’s character, fault”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *smh₂-tló-m (“wiping (?)”), from *smeh₂- (“to rub; to smear”). The word displaced Middle English unwemmed (“pure, untainted”). See also -ate (adjective-forming suffix). By surface analysis, im- + macule + -ate.
Cognates
* Catalan immaculat
* Italian immacolato, immaculato (obsolete)
* Middle French immaculé (modern French immaculé)
* Portuguese imaculado
* Spanish inmaculado
Base: maculātus
Affixes: in-
Inflected forms:
form: more immaculate
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most immaculate
pos: adj
tags: superlative
Senses:
gloss: Having no blemish or stain; absolutely clean and tidy.
pos: adj
examples: O loyall Father, of a treacherous Sonne, / Thou ſheere immaculate and ſiluer Fountaine, / From vvhence this ſtreame, through muddy paſſages, / Hath held his current, and defild himſelfe.
So in immaculate clothes, and Symetrie / Perfect as circles, vvith ſuch nicetie / As a young Preacher at his firſt time goes / To preach, he enters, […]
So firſt to preach a vvhite-glov'd Chaplain goes, / VVith Band of Lily, and vvith Cheek of Roſe, / Svveeter than Sharon, in immaculate trim, / Neatneſs itſelf impertinent in him.
Every rustle of her silvery silk gown, every fold of the snowy kerchief on her neck, every plait of her immaculate cap, spoke a soul long retired from this world and its cares.
gloss: Containing no mistakes; free from fault.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
gloss: Containing no mistakes; free from fault.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
specifically
gloss: Free from sin; morally pure; sinless.
pos: adj
tags: archaic
figuratively
examples: Take not thy flight ſo ſoone immaculate ſpirit.
Were but my ſoul as pure / From other guilts as that, Heaven did not hold / One more immaculate.
And this Life is pure and immaculate Love, and this Love is God, as he is communicable unto man, and is the ſole Life and Eſſence of Vertue truly ſo called; […]
The VVorld's infectious; fevv bring back at Eve / Immaculate, the Manners of the Morn.
Alas! vve have made a nevv faith; vve have exchanged piety for impiety; vve have betrayed the immaculate ſacrifice [of Jesus]; […]
That immaculate manliness we feel within ourselves, so far within us, that it remains intact though all the outer character seem gone; bleeds with keenest anguish at the undraped spectacle of a valor-ruined man.
gloss: Of the Virgin Mary or her womb: pure, undefiled.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
gloss: Lacking blotches, spots, or other markings.
pos: adj
tags: especially
Related words: macula
macular
maculate
maculated
maculated fever
maculation
maculatory
macule
maculism
Derived words: Immaculate Conception
immaculate concussion
immaculate disinflation
immaculately
immaculateness
immaculism
Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
unimmaculate
Translations:
lang: Afrikaans
word: perfek
lang: Afrikaans
word: foutloos
lang: Armenian
word: առաքինի
roman: aṙakʻini
lang: Armenian
word: կատարյալ
roman: kataryal
lang: Finnish
word: moitteeton
lang: German
word: makellos
lang: German
word: perfect
lang: Hawaiian
word: hemolele
lang: Hungarian
word: makulátlan
lang: Korean
word: 완벽하다
roman: wanbyeokhada
lang: Macedonian
word: беспрекорен
roman: besprekoren
lang: Russian
word: безоши́бочный
roman: bezošíbočnyj
lang: Russian
word: соверше́нный
roman: soveršénnyj
lang: Thai
word: วิมล
roman: wí-mon
lang: Tibetan
word: སྐྱོན་མེད
roman: skyon med
lang: Ukrainian
word: бездоганний
roman: bezdohannyj
lang: Vietnamese
word: vẹn toàn