▪ I. complete, a.
(kəmˈpliːt)
Forms: 4–5 complet, -pleet, 6–7 -pleate, 6– -pleat, 4– complete.
[ad. L. complēt-us, pa. pple. of complēre to fill up, finish, fulfil, f. com- intensive prefix + *plēre to fill (cf. plēnus full). Cf. F. complet, complète (in Palsgr. 1530; the earlier OF. word was compli, complie from the Romanic form of the vb. complīr(e). About 1600 often accented ˈcomplete, e.g. by Marlowe, Chapman, and Shakespeare.]
1. a. Having all its parts or members; comprising the full number or amount; embracing all the requisite items, details, topics, etc.; entire, full.
| c 1830 Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 323 Ech compleet resoun telliþ treuþe þat we shulde trowe. 1586 Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburl. iii. iii, Their shoulders broad for complete armour fit. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. §19 (T.) When one doth wait for another coming, till the assembly..be complete. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. iv. 52. 1611 Bible 2 Macc. iii. 25 It seemed that hee that sate vpon the horse, had complete harnesse of golde. 1615 Chapman Odyss. vi. 83 A coach..Stately and complete. 1740 Johnson Life Barretier, Those, who have received more complete intelligence. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, ‘Times’ Wks. (Bohn) II. 117 Its information is earliest, completest, and surest. 1871 Ruskin Munera P. (1880) Pref. 24 The preface is complete in itself. |
b. Logic and Math. Of a formal logical or mathematical system: such that no new axiom can be added that is independent of the existing axioms and consistent with them, so that every true proposition expressible in the system is deducible as a theorem in it. Opp. incomplete a. 2 b.
| 1932 Lewis & Langford Symbolic Logic xi. 350 When this occurs, the set obtained is said to be categorical or complete. Ibid. 351 A set is complete if, and only if, it determines the truth-value of every function that can be constructed on its base. 1955 A. N. Prior Formal Logic iii. 70 It cannot be said within any system..that that system is ‘complete’, i.e. that its unproved theses and rules suffice to prove all theses within it which are true for all interpretations of their variables. 1979 D. R. Hofstadter Gödel, Escher, Bach (1980) iv. 102 Now the modified pq-system becomes both consistent and complete. 1979 A. Flew Dict. Philos. 65/1 The intuitive idea is that a logical system is complete if it allows one to produce proofs corresponding to all the valid inference forms that can be represented in the language. 1982 W. S. Hatcher Logical Found. Math. i. 33 We are interested..in consistent, complete systems. We now prove that any predicate calculus is a consistent but incomplete (i.e. not complete) theory. |
2. Of a period or space of time: That has run its full course, whole. Of action or events in time: Finished, ended, concluded.
| c 1386 Chaucer Merch. T. 649 The fourthe day compleet fro noon to noon. ― Nun's Pr. T. 369 Whan þat the Monthe..That highte March..Was compleet. 1494 Fabyan Chron. I. xvi. (R.) By the tyme or space of v. yeres complete. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iv. i. 27 Ioue, let æneas liue..A thousand compleate courses of the Sunne. 1701 Evelyn Diary (1827) III. 393, I was this day 81 complete. 1731 Pope Ep. Burlington 78 Behold Villario's ten years toil compleat. 1879 Lockyer Elem. Astron. 319 The Moon's nodes perform a complete revolution in nineteen years. |
3. Of an action, state, or quality: Realized in its full extent; entire, thorough.
| 1645 Ord. Lords & Com., Susp. fr. Sacram. 1 Sincerely to endeavour the compleat establishment of Purity and Unity. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 19 A man of compleat stature. 1727 De Foe Syst. Magic i. iv. (1840) 115 The greatest and best principles are often illustrated..by their completest contraries. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxx. (1856) 258 Next came the complete inabiity to obtain drink without manufacturing it. 1854 Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Technol. I. 199 One pound of peat requires for complete combustion..from 70 to 134 cubic feet of air. 1875 Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. (ed. 5) 443 The triumph of the principle..is complete. |
4. Perfect in nature or quality; without defect.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 362 Men shulden bi hooli lif of Crist trowe þat his lawe is compleet. 1590 Marlowe 2nd Pt. Tamburl. i. iii, If thou exceed they elder brothers worth, And shine in complete virtue more than they. 1673 Ray Journ. Low C., Florence 325 The church of S. Maria Florida, which in some mens opinion is the compleatest structure that ever was set upon the earth. 1779–81 Johnson L.P., Pope Wks. IV. 96 The praise had been compleat had his friend's virtue been equal to his wit. 1878 Hopps Rel. & Moral Lect. iv. 16 Everything which trains and educates is leading on to that completer kind of life. |
5. Of persons: Fully equipped or endowed; perfect, accomplished, consummate; esp. in reference to a particular art or pursuit, as a complete actor, horseman, merchant. Now arch.
| 1526 Tindale Coloss. ii. 10 Ye are complete in him which is the heed of all rule and power. 1599 Marston Sco. Villanie ii. v. 197 A compleat villaine, perfect, absolute. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 181 Then maruell not, thou great and compleat man. 1622 Peacham (title) The Compleat Gentleman. 1653 Walton (title) The Compleat Angler. 1709 Kennett Erasmus on Folly 31 The compleatest actors shall be hissed off the stage. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 86 ¶4 A Knave compleat. 1752 Johnson Rambler No. 198 ¶3 The sailor [thought] all that was necessary to make a man complete might be learned on ship-board. 1822 W. Irving Braceb. Hall (1845) 109 He was acknowledged to be..the completest gentleman of his time. |
¶ Revived in imitation of its 17th-cent. use, as in Walton's The Compleat Angler.
| 1900 O. Onions (title) The compleat bachelor. 1953 (title) The compleat imbiber (W. & A. Gilbey, Ltd.). 1963 M. McCarthy Group v. 104 She writes and sings and paints and dances and plays I don't know how many instruments. The compleat girl. |
† 6. Const. with (cf. replete with); also in. Obs.
| 1567 Fenton Trag. Disc., A tongue compleate with spyte. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iv. 73. 1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriot. iii. 16 The folly of our fore-fathers, wherein..this Island was so compleat. a 1674 Clarendon Hist. viii. (1843) 481/2 That neither of them should move upon any action till they should be both complete in greater numbers, than either of them had yet marched with. |
7. complete fertilizer: a fertilizer containing the chief plant nutrients, phosphoric acid, nitrogen, and potash; also ellipt.; complete flower: † (a) one which possesses stamens and pistils; (b) one which also possesses the floral envelopes; complete metamorphosis (Entom.): one in which the pupa is formed like the imago; so complete pupa; complete primitive (see primitive a. and n. B. 8)
| 1794 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. ix. 87 The first thing you have to see is, whether the flowers are complete or perfect, that is, have both stamens and pistils. 1807 J. E. Smith Phys. Bot. 306 A flower furnished with both calyx and corolla is called flos completus, a complete flower. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. xxxi. 239 The pupæ of this sub⁓division [Arachnida] were named by Linné Complete from their near resemblance to the imago. 1847 Carpenter Zool. §626 As an example of complete metamorphosis..taking the Bombyx mori..the silkworm. 1857 Henfrey Bot. 88 A flower presenting all the [four] whorls is called complete. 1859 G. Boole Treat. Differential Equations i. 8 The relation among the variables which constitutes the general solution of a differential equation..is also termed its complete primitive. 1904 Webster's Guide on Fertilizers (A. G. Webster & Son, Hobart, Tasmania) 1 We are pleased to state that our sales of Fertilizers show a considerable increase, especially in Mixed Complete Fertilizers. 1920 [see complementary function]. 1953 H. L. Edlin Forester's Handbk. xix. 322 Compound commercial fertilizers, which include balanced amounts of the three major nutrients, namely nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium..are similar to the ‘complete fertilizers’ used in agricultural practice. 1957 L. Fox Two-Point Boundary Probl. i. 3 By definition, a numerical solution contains no arbitrary constants, so that we always obtain particular integrals rather than complete primitives. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 8 Mar. 105/3 The first spring dressing is nitrogen, followed by a complete, with a nitrogen top dressing after nearly every grazing over, and a second application of complete in August. |
8. quasi-n. the complete: the full amount (of).
| 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 145 The age has not yet the complete of benefit. |
9. quasi-adv. = completely.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 828 Troylus wel woxen was in heighte, And complet formed by proporcioun. 1581 W. Stafford Exam. Compl. i. (1876) 23 Taughte more perfectly and more compleate. c 1611 Chapman Iliad vi. (R.) All in fire he burn'd him compleate arm'd. 1837–40 Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 137 They all know me to be an American citizen here, by my talk, for we speak it complete in New England. |
Add: [8.] Math. a. Of a metric space: such that every Cauchy sequence in the space is convergent within it.
| 1934 C. C. Krieger tr. Sierpi{nacu}ski's Introd. Gen. Topol. vii. 120 Fréchet calls a space complete when a metric can be established for it such that Cauchy's Theorem is true. 1946 Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. LX. 529 A topological linear space, being a topological group, has a natural uniform structure... Hence one may speak of..whether or not it is complete. 1964 A. P. & W. Robertson Topological Vector Spaces iii. 63 If S is a separated compact or locally compact space, the space {scrC}(S) , under the topology of compact convergence.., is complete. |
b. Of a graph: such that every pair of points is joined by just one edge.
| 1935 Compositio Mathematica II. 466 If the number of points is N≥m(k,l) then there exists in our graph a complete graph of order l. Ibid. [Note] A complete graph is one in which every pair of points is connected. 1972 R. J. Wilson Introd. Graph Theory ii. 16 The complete graph on n vertices is usually denoted by Kn... The reader should check that Kn has exactly ½n(n-1) edges. 1980 Sci. Amer. Mar. 18/2 No matter how the arrowheads are placed on a complete digraph, there will always be a directed path that visits each point just once. 1989 VNR Conc. Encycl. Math. (ed. 2) xxxvi. 689 A complete graph is connected. |
▪ II. complete, v.
(kəmˈpliːt)
Also 7–9 compleat.
[f. the adj.; cf. mod.F. compléter. Probably having a further association with L. complēt- ppl. stem of complēre: see prec.]
1. trans. To bring to an end, finish (an action, performance, work, a distance, period of time, etc.).
| 1530 Palsgr. 491/2, I complete, I fulfyll. Jaccomplis. Who shall complete this worke nowe he is deed? Ibid. 492/1, I complete, I fynisshe or performe a thyng. 1646 Recorde's Gr. Artes Pref. 9 All which..I have almost compleated to be exhibited to your Highnesse. 1684 R. Waller Nat. Exper. 56 We..compleated the filling of the Cane to A, and tyed it over fast with a Bladder. 1751 C. Labelye Westm. Br. 108 In Case I should be prevented by Death, from compleating this Work. 1874 Green Short Hist. vii. §6 (1882) 407 After completing the circuit of the globe. |
2. To make whole or entire, so as to leave nothing wanting.
| 1726 Butler Serm. iii. 45 Add to these the superior faculty..and you compleat the Idea of Humane Nature. 1795 Mason Ch. Mus. i. 14 When the sense is compleated. 1875 Jowett Plato V. 10 Plato completes his sketch of the constitution by the appointment of officers. |
b. To fill up the number of; to make up the full tale or amount of.
| 1649 Denham Death Ld. Hastings (R.), Within these cold embraces ravish'd lies That which compleats the age's tyrannies. 1738 Glover Leonidas i. 214 Three hundred more compleat th'intrepid band. 1841 Penny Cycl. s.v. Regiment XIX. 359 1 The legions of Henry II were never completed to the extent prescribed by the ordonnance. |
3. To make perfect; to accomplish; to furnish or equip completely.
| 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 618 That fair femal Troop..Bred onely and completed to the taste Of lustful appetence. 1745 De Foe's Eng. Tradesman Introd. (1841) I. 3 In order to complete the English tradesman in this manner. 1805 Wordsw. Prelude xiv. (1851) 293 All that love can do..to complete the man, Perfect him, made imperfect in himself. |
† b. To give a full title or degree to (a person); to invest fully with a rank or office. Obs.
| c 1645 Howell Lett. (1650) I. 413 Every churchman compleated in holy orders was called Presbyter. 1678 Walton Life Sanderson 4 Mr. Sanderson was compleated Master of Arts. 1727 Swift Circumcis. E. Curll, He was now completed a perfect Jew. |
4. To accomplish, fulfil (a vow, hope). rare. Cf. completion.
| 1680 Otway Orphan ii. iv. 653 Honourable Vows Which he this day appointed to compleat. 1732 Pope Ep. Bathurst 213 To town he comes, compleats the nation's hope. 1814 Wordsw. Excursion ix. Wks. 525/1 Your Country must complete Her glorious destiny. |
Add: [1.] b. Law. In conveyancing: to conclude (the sale or purchase of property) by the exchange of money for the property specified in the contract. Also absol.
| 1794 F. W. Sanders J. T. Atkyns's Rep. Cases in Chancery (ed. 3) I. 12/2 The purchase was to be completed on or before the 25th of March, 1793. 1805 E. B. Sugden Law of Vendors & Purchasers of Estates viii. 185 The purchaser was then out of town, and on his return.., wrote, insisting that he would not complete. 1893 [see completion n. d]. 1957 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 804/1 This is executed by the vendor and delivered to his solicitor in escrow (i.e., on condition that it is not to be effective unless the transaction is duly completed). 1971 Reader's Digest Family Guide to Law ix. 80/1 If the seller's solicitor suspects..that the buyer is unlikely to complete unless he is forced to, he can serve a ‘notice to complete’ on the buyer. 1987 Daily Tel. 23 Sept. 16/6 Purchasers..are bound to the extent of forfeiture of their deposit if they fail to complete. |