immaculate
Meanings
- Having no blemish or stain; absolutely clean and tidy.
- Containing no mistakes.
- Of a book, manuscript, etc.: having no textual errors.
- Free from sin; morally pure; sinless.
- Of the Virgin Mary or her womb: pure, undefiled.
- Lacking blotches, spots, or other markings.
Pronunciation
Word forms
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