immaculate
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
immaculate
- /ɪˈmækjʊlət/ UK
- /ɪˈmæk.jʊ.lət/ US
- /ᵻˈmæk.jə.lət/ US
Rhymes with -ækjʊlət
Where it comes from
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
adjective more immaculate · most immaculate
- Having no blemish or stain; absolutely clean and tidy. 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.
- Containing no mistakes; free from fault.
- Of a book, manuscript, etc.: having no textual errors.
- Free from sin; morally pure; sinless. Take not thy flight ſo ſoone immaculate ſpirit.
- Of the Virgin Mary or her womb: pure, undefiled.
- Lacking blotches, spots, or other markings.
