COMPLEMENT


Meaning of COMPLEMENT in English

I. ˈkämpləmənt noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English, from Latin complementum, from complēre to fill up, complete + -mentum -ment — more at complete

1. : something that fills up or completes: as

a. : something that fills out and makes perfect : a completing or consummating part, integral, or component : completion

a European tour was then the necessary complement of a gentle upbringing and a liberal education

although Bergson often represented intuition as a complement to reason, he as often separated and opposed them — H.J.Muller

b. : the quantity or number required to fill a thing or make it complete : full allowance

a farm with a full complement of stock

a platoon with its normal complement of weapons

the usual complement of office personnel

c. : the necessary and completing opposing item : one of two mutually completing parts : counterpart

he had found someone whose … masculinity was the very complement of his own fragile graces — H.V.Gregory

some kind of school was the complement of each meetinghouse — American Guide Series: North Carolina

2. obsolete

a. : the act or action of fulfilling or making up

b. : the quality or state of being complete

3.

a. : the amount of angle or arc by which a given angle or arc falls short of 90°

b. : minor I 4

c. : the numerical amount that must be added to a number to give the least number containing one more digit

the complement of 4 is 6 and that of 45 is 55

4. obsolete

a. : something added for equipping or ornamentation especially of the person : accessory

b. : a social quality or accomplishment

c. : a ceremonial or courteous observance that rounds off a service or action or the deportment of an individual

5. : the whole force or personnel of a ship ; specifically : the entire force of officers and crew allowed to a naval vessel for wartime operations

6. heraldry : fullness of the moon

7. : the interval in music required with a given interval to complete the octave

8. : an added word by which a predication is made complete (as president in “they elected him president” or white in “he painted the house white”)

9. : a complementary color

10. : the thermolabile substance in normal blood serum and plasma that in combination with antibodies causes the destruction of bacteria, foreign blood corpuscles, and other antigens

11. logic : the negate of a given class a or statement p

[s]compleme.jpg[/s] [

complement 3a: ACB right angle, ACD complement of DCB (and vice versa), AD complement of DB (and vice versa)

]

II. -ˌment, -_mənt — see -ment II verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

transitive verb

1. : to fill in or make up (what is lacking) : round off

the museum is complemented by a spacious garden — American Guide Series: Michigan

your chosen perfume complements your personality — D.S.Lyle

2. obsolete : compliment

intransitive verb

obsolete : compliment

III. noun

1. : 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

2. : a phrasal category (as a noun phrase or sentence) that is combined with a lexical head (as a verb) or a function word to form a larger constituent

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.