What does it mean to “perfect” an appeal in Texas?

In Texas, “perfection of an appeal” means filing the notice of appeal with the trial court clerk. See Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 25.1(a). In this context, the word “perfect” is not pronounced the same as the word “perfect” which means “free from flaws.” Rather, in this context “perfect” is pronounced per-FECT, with the emphasis on the second syllable, while the word meaning “free from flaws” is pronounced “PER-fect, with the emphasis on the first syllable. The two words are homographs (i.e., two words that are spelled the same but are pronounced differently).

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