In the same way, τέλειον means (1) something that is completed; (2) what constitutes being-completed, the definite way of being in which something completed must be in order to be completed, the mode of being of what is completed.
a) Translation of the Chapter
τέλειον λέγεται ἕν μὲν οὗ μὴ ἔστιν ἔξω τι λαβεῖν μηδὲ ἕν μόριον, οἷον χρόνος τέλειος ἑκάστου οὗ μὴ ἔστιν ἔξω λαβεῖν χρόνος τινὰ ὃς τούτου μέρος ἐστὶ τοῦ χρόνου.68 “What is addressed as complete, first of all, is a being no part of which still remains to be encountered (since this part also constitutes the being in question), so the time for what exists in the moment, is completed in the sense that outside of this time there is no further bit of time to come that also constitutes that thing.” When we say, “everything has its time,” we mean something like what Aristotle has in view, a definite limitation of time, outside of which there is no temporal being. When something has had its time, it is in a mode that constitutes its being-completed; it is τέλειον (compare the analysis of time in Book 4 of the Physics, Chapters 10–14).
καὶ τὸ κατ’ ἀρετὴν καὶ τὸ εὖ μὴ ἔχον ὑπερβολὴν πρὸς τὸ γένος, οἷον τέλειος ἰατρὸς καὶ τέλειος αὐλητής, ὅταν κατὰ τὸ εἶδος τῆς οἰκείας ἀρετῆς μηδὲν ἐλλείπωσιν. οὕτω δὲ μεταφέροντες καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν κακῶν λέγομεν συκοφάντην τέλειον καὶ κλέπτην τέλειον, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἀγαθοὺς λέγομεν αὐτούς, οἷον κλέπτην ἀγαθόν καὶ συκοφάντην ἀγαθόν. καὶ ἡ ἀρετὴ τελείωσίς τις.69 “Further, what is addressed as complete is that which has nothing left in the context of having a genuine being-possibility at one’s disposal in its true line of descent. We speak of a consummate doctor or a consummate flute player. A doctor or flute player, is consummate when, with respect to how they have their being at their disposal in a way proper to them, they are not wanting in any way (thus, when the flute player’s ἀρετή is not wanting in any way with respect to its possibility). In this sense, however (as given in this definition), we speak also of a sycophant (a show-off) or a thief as consummate, in the sense that we are carrying over the how of what is meant (the τέλειον), μεταφέροντες; for example, we call someone a good thief or a good show-off. Having one’s being-possibility at one’s disposal is a certain mode of constituting-the-completedness-of-the being-in-question (of this definite being that is in ἀρετή).”
ἕκαστον γὰρ τότε τέλειον καὶ οὐσία πᾶσα τότε τέλεια, ὅταν κατὰ τὸ εἶδος τῆς οἰκείας ἀρετῆς μηδὲν ἐλλείπῃ μόριον τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν μεγέθους.70 “For each moment, then, something is completed and each being is there in the how of its being, if, with respect to ἀρετή, nothing is left out from that which relates to the extent of the possible ability-to-be of the being in question.”
ἔτι οἷς ὑπάρχει τὸ τέλος σπουδαῖον, ταὐτά λέγεται τέλεια· κατὰ γὰρ τὸ
68. Met. Δ 16, 1021 b 12 sqq.
69. Met. Δ 16, 1021 b 15 sqq.
70. Met. Δ 16, 1021 b 21 sqq.