Adjacent Words

Complement definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

COMPLEMENT, n.
1. Fulness; completion; whence, perfection.
They as they feasted had their fill,
For a full complement of all their ill.
2. Full quantity or number; the quantity or number limited; as, a company has its complement of men; a ship has its complement of stores.
3. That which is added, not as necessary, but as ornamental; something adventitious to the main thing; ceremony. [See Compliment.]
garnished and decked in modest complement.
4. In geometry, what remains of the quadrant of a circle, or of ninety degrees, after any arch has been taken from it. Thus if the arch taken is thirty degrees, its complement is sixty.
5. In astronomy, the distance of a star from the zenith.
6. Arithmetical complement of a logarithm, is what the logarithm wants of 10,000,000.
7. In fortification, the complement of the curtain is that part in the interior side which makes the demigorge.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a word or phrase used to complete a grammatical construction
2: a complete number or quantity; "a full complement"
3: number needed to make up a whole force; "a full complement of workers" [syn: complement, full complement]
4: something added to complete or embellish or make perfect; "a fine wine is a perfect complement to the dinner"; "wild rice was served as an accompaniment to the main dish" [syn: complement, accompaniment]
5: one of a series of enzymes in the blood serum that are part of the immune response
6: either of two parts that mutually complete each other v
1: make complete or perfect; supply what is wanting or form the complement to; "I need some pepper to complement the sweet touch in the soup"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Latin complementum, from compl?re to fill up, complete, from com- + pl?re to fill — more at full Date: 14th century 1. a. something that fills up, completes, or makes perfect b. the quantity, number, or assortment required to make a thing complete <the usual complement of eyes and ears — Francis Parkman>; especially the whole force or personnel of a ship c. one of two mutually completing parts ; counterpart 2. a. the angle or arc that when added to a given angle or arc equals a right angle in measure b. the set of all elements that do not belong to a given set and are contained in a particular mathematical set containing the given set c. a number that when added to another number of the same sign yields zero if the significant digit farthest to the left is discarded — used especially in assembly language programming 3. the musical interval required with a given interval to complete the octave 4. an added word or expression by which a predication is made complete (as president in “they elected him president” and beautiful in “he thought her beautiful”) 5. the thermolabile group of proteins in normal blood serum and plasma that in combination with antibodies causes the destruction especially of particulate antigens (as bacteria and foreign blood corpuscles) II. verb Date: 1602 intransitive verb obsolete to exchange formal courtesies transitive verb 1. to be complementary to <the illustrations complement the text> 2. obsolete compliment

Britannica Concise

In physiology, a complex system of at least 20 proteins (complement components) in normal blood serum. The binding of one component to an antigen-antibody complex begins a chemical chain reaction important in many immunological processes, incl. breakdown of foreign and infected cells, ingestion of foreign particles and cell debris, and inflammation of surrounding tissue. Complement components and antibodies are the substances in human serum responsible for killing bacteria.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a something that completes. b one of a pair, or one of two things that go together. 2 (often full complement) the full number needed to man a ship, fill a conveyance, etc. 3 Gram. a word or phrase added to a verb to complete the predicate of a sentence. 4 Biochem. a group of proteins in the blood capable of lysing bacteria etc. 5 Math. any element not belonging to a specified set or class. 6 Geom. the amount by which an angle is less than 90° (cf. SUPPLEMENT). --v.tr. 1 complete. 2 form a complement to (the scarf complements her dress). Derivatives: complemental adj. Etymology: ME f. L complementum (as COMPLETE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Complement Com"ple*ment, n. [L. complementun: cf. F. compl['e]ment. See Complete, v. t., and cf. Compliment.] 1. That which fills up or completes; the quantity or number required to fill a thing or make it complete. 2. That which is required to supply a deficiency, or to complete a symmetrical whole. History is the complement of poetry. --Sir J. Stephen. 3. Full quantity, number, or amount; a complete set; completeness. To exceed his complement and number appointed him which was one hundred and twenty persons. --Hakluyt. 4. (Math.) A second quantity added to a given quantity to make it equal to a third given quantity. 5. Something added for ornamentation; an accessory. [Obs.] Without vain art or curious complements. --Spenser. 6. (Naut.) The whole working force of a vessel. 7. (Mus.) The interval wanting to complete the octave; -- the fourth is the complement of the fifth, the sixth of the third. 8. A compliment. [Obs.] --Shak. Arithmetical compliment of a logarithm. See under Logarithm. Arithmetical complement of a number (Math.), the difference between that number and the next higher power of 10; as, 4 is the complement of 6, and 16 of 84. Complement of an arc or angle (Geom.), the difference between that arc or angle and 90[deg]. Complement of a parallelogram. (Math.) See Gnomon. In her complement (Her.), said of the moon when represented as full.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Complement Com"ple*ment, v. t. 1. To supply a lack; to supplement. [R.] 2. To compliment. [Obs.] --Jer. Taylor.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(complemented) 1. If one thing complements another, it goes well with the other thing and makes its good qualities more noticeable. Nutmeg, parsley and cider all complement the flavour of these beans well. = set off VERB: V n 2. If people or things complement each other, they are different or do something different, which makes them a good combination. There will be a written examination to complement the practical test... We complement one another perfectly. VERB: V n, V n 3. Something that is a complement to something else complements it. The green wallpaper is the perfect complement to the old pine of the dresser... N-COUNT: usu sing, oft N to n 4. The complement of things or people that something has is the number of things or people that it normally has, which enable it to function properly. (FORMAL) Each ship had a complement of around a dozen officers and 250 men... N-COUNT: usu sing, oft N of n 5. In grammar, the complement of a link verb is an adjective group or noun group which comes after the verb and describes or identifies the subject. For example, in the sentence 'They felt very tired', 'very tired' is the complement. In 'They were students', 'students' is the complement. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Full number, full quantity, quota, full tale, tale. 2. Completeness, fulfilment, fulness, perfection, consummation. 3. Deficiency, deficit, shortage, amount lacking (to make some fixed amount).

Moby Thesaurus

A to Z, A to izzard, IC analysis, accession, accessory, accompaniment, add to, addenda, addendum, additament, addition, additive, additory, additum, adjunct, adjuvant, age group, aggregate, all, all and sundry, allowance, ally, alpha and omega, alter ego, analogon, analogue, annex, annexation, answer, answer to, appanage, appendage, appendant, appositive, appurtenance, appurtenant, assemblage, associate, attachment, attribute, attributive, augment, augmentation, bakehead, band, battalion, be-all, be-all and end-all, beginning and end, bellyful, bevy, black gang, body, boilerman, brigade, brother, bumper, bunch, bungs, cabal, cabin boy, capacity, cast, charge, chips, clique, close copy, close match, coda, coequal, cognate, cohort, commissary steward, companion, company, complete, completion, concomitant, confirmation, congenator, congener, construction modifier, consummation, contingent, continuation, coordinate, corollary, corps, correlate, correlative, correspond, correspond to, correspondent, coterie, counterpart, covey, cram, crew, crowd, crush, cutting, deckhand, deckie, deep structure, detachment, detail, direct object, division, each and every, eight, eleven, enhance, enhancement, enrichment, equivalent, everything, extension, extrapolation, faction, fellow, fill, filler, fireman, first string, first team, five, fixture, fleet, form-function unit, full house, full measure, function, gang, group, grouping, groupment, gun loader, gunner, hand, hospital steward, image, immediate constituent analysis, in-group, increase, increment, indirect object, jam up, junta, kindred spirit, lading, landing signalman, length and breadth, levels, like, likeness, load, mail orderly, makeweight, mate, mob, modifier, mouthful, movement, navigator, near duplicate, nine, object, obverse, offshoot, oiler, one and all, out-group, outfit, pack, package, package deal, parallel, party, peer group, pendant, perfect, perfection, phalanx, phrase structure, picture, platoon, posse, predicate, purser, qualifier, quorum, quota, radio operator, ranks, reciprocal, reciprocate, regiment, reinforcement, reserves, respond to, round out, roustabout, rowing crew, salon, second self, second string, second team, set, set off, shallow structure, side effect, side issue, similitude, simulacrum, sister, skinful, slot, slot and filler, snip, snips, snootful, soul mate, sparks, squad, stable, steward, stewardess, stoker, strata, string, structure, subject, such, suchlike, supplement, surface structure, syntactic analysis, syntactic structure, syntactics, syntax, tagmeme, tailpiece, tally, team, the corpus, the ensemble, the entirety, the like of, the likes of, the lot, the whole, the whole range, third string, top off, torpedoman, tribe, troop, troupe, twin, undergirding, underlying structure, varsity, watch, wing, word arrangement, word order, yeoman