immaculate
im·ma·cu·late
adjective
completely neat and clean
- “the apartment was immaculate”
- “in her immaculate white uniform”
- “a spick-and-span kitchen”
- “their spic red-visored caps”
- “faultless logic”
- “speaks impeccable French”
- “timing and technique were immaculate”
- “an immaculate record”
Origin
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
Phrases
- Immaculate Conception
- immaculate concussion
- immaculate disinflation
- maculated fever
- Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Related words
Word family
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.