▪ I. complement, n.
(ˈkɒmplɪmənt)
[ad. L. complēmentum that which fills up or completes, f. complē-re to fill up: see complete and -ment. Cf. F. complément (a single 14th c. instance in Littré). In the group of senses under II, the word has since c 1655–1725 been supplanted by the parallel F. word compliment.]
I. Senses still written complement.
† 1. The action of fulfilling or completing; completion, fulfilment, accomplishment. Obs.
| 1419 R. Holme in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 20 I. 65 To the complement of ȝoure said charge..we have doon owre entier peyne. 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 338 For a full complement of all their ill, They stole away. 1621 Ainsworth Annot. Pentat., Gen. xviii. 10 By the complement of the thing promised. 1721 Strype Eccl. Mem. II. i. x. 78 Sums of money..in complement of the deceased king's will. |
† 2. a. The fact or condition of being complete; completeness, fullness. Obs.
| 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §39 Not in complement and perfection. 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. 1 The Sensible Nature in its complement and integrity hath..five exterior Senses. |
b. Her. Fullness (of the moon).
| 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. iii. 91 Diuers denominations [of Moon] in Heraldrie; as her Increment..her Complement, when she is at Full; her Decrement. 1766 Porny Her. (1787) 142 A Moon in her complement Or, illustrated with all her light proper. 1882 Cussans Handbk. Her. 102 The Moon..when full-faced and shining..is described as In her Complement or Plenitude. |
3. a. That which completes or makes perfect; the completion, perfection, consummation.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxxvi. (1495) 149 The herte..is complement and perfeccion of beest. 1594 Spenser Amoretti xxiv, That beauties wonderment..Of Natures skill the only complement. 1656 Trapp Comm. John xv. 12 Love is the complement of the law and the supplement of the Gospel. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 268 ¶3 Men rather seek for Money as the Complement of all their Desires. 1860 Adler Fauriel's Prov. Poetry ii. 33 The works of Petrarch may be regarded as the complement and consummation of the amatory poetry of the Provencals. 1873 Smiles Huguenots Fr. ii. ii. (1881) 362 ‘The grand tour’ was considered the complement of English education. |
b. Gram. One or more words joined to another to complete the sense (see quots.).
| 1874 tr. Maetzner's Eng. Gram. III. 21 The infinitive with to may also take the place of a predicative complement. 1876 Mason Eng. Gram. §391 Many verbs do not make complete sense by themselves..and the words used with them to make predication complete may be called the complement of the predicate. Ibid. §395 The third kind of complement is that which follows such verbs as can, will, must, etc... This may be termed the infinitive complement. 1925 Grattan & Gurrey Our Living Lang. xlii. 270 Sentences in Group A below have Multiple Complements (Objects, Predicatives, Adverbs). 1961 R. B. Long Sentence & Parts 2 His sister is buying antiques will always be understood to have is buying as predicator and antiques as complement; his hobby is buying antiques..to have is as predicator and buying antiques as complement. 1964 E. Palmer tr. Martinet's Elem. Gen. Linguistics iv. 11 Hier, il y avait fête au village...hier and au village..may be eliminated without the utterance ceasing to be a normal sentence..and this is what is meant by the traditional terminology which speaks of them as ‘complements’. |
4. a. The quantity or amount that completes or fills; complete quantity, provision, or set; full allowance, totality.
| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. ii. (Arb.) 80 Matter sufficient to make a full periode or complement of sence. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. I. i. ix. 99 That full complement of riches which is consistent with the nature of its laws. 1798 Naval Chron. (1799) I. 82 Many..were..busy in completing the complement of their sails. 1850 Baynes New Analytic 70 We may..regard any whole, considered as the complement of its parts, in either of two ways. |
b. esp. with possessive: ‘his complement’, etc.
| 1637 R. Humfrey tr. St. Ambrose Pref., That which maketh up their complement. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1698) I. xi. 318 They will sell 10 or 15 Tuns out of 100, and yet seemingly carry their complement [of Cloves] to Batavia; for they will pour water among the remaining part of their Cargo. 1790 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Advice to Fut. Laureat Wks. 1812 II. 340 Brains that want their complement of Wits. 1823 Scoresby Jrnl. N. Whale Fishery 122 The obvious want of their proper complement of oars. 1856 Mrs Browning Aur. Leigh i. 399, I learnt my complement of classic French. |
c. The full number required to complete a company, to fill a conveyance, or esp. to man a ship.
| 1600 Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 89 Commanding our General, not to exceede his Complement and number apppointed him. c 1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 70 An hospitall..for Seamens widdows, 30 is their Complement. 1748 Anson's Voy. i. i. (ed. 4) 7 His squadron wanted three hundred seamen of their complement. 1798 in Nicolas Disp. Nelson (1846) VII. 168 Many of the Ships had Troops on board above the complement. 1842 T. Martin in Fraser's Mag. Dec., ‘Ve've got our complement [in the omnibus] any vay’. 1846 Prescott Ferd. & Is. II. xviii. 162 The complement of the fleet was..fixed at twelve hundred souls. |
5. a. Something which, when added, completes or makes up a whole; each of two parts which mutually complete each other, or supply each other's deficiencies.
| 1827 Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) III. xvi. 198 The act of settlement was..the complement of the Revolution itself and the bill of rights. 1850 M{supc}Cosh Div. Govt. iii. i. (1874) 318 Justice and Love are each the complement of the other. 1850 Froude Short Stud., Lives Saints (1867) 377 The animal and the spiritual are.. the complements in the perfect character. 1879 Geo. Eliot Coll. Breakf. P. 334 Crushing me To a subordinate complement of you. |
b. Math.
complements of a parallelogram: the two lesser parallelograms, not on the diagonal, made by drawing lines parallel to the sides of a given parallelogram, through the same point in its diagonal. complement of an arc or angle: the angular amount which, added to a given arc or angle, makes up 90 degrees (formerly also some multiple of 90°: cf. supplement); abbrev. (esp. in Trig.) into co: see co- 4. arithmetical complement: the sum which, added to a given number, makes up unity, ten, or the next higher multiple of ten; esp. complement of a logarithm, the number by which a logarithm falls short of ten.
| 1570 Billingsley Euclid i. xliii. 54 The parallelogrammes about the diameter he [Pelitarius] calleth Complementes. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. ii. (ed. 7) 106 To find out the complement..subtract the given Arch out of the whole quadrant. 1660 Barrow Euclid i. xxxvi. 1696 Phillips, Complement of an Angle, is so much as the Arch wanteth of ninety Degrees..or..of 180 Degrees or..of 360 Degrees. 1727–51 Chambers Cycl., Arithmetical complement of a logarithm, is what the logarithm wants of 10.0000000. 1796 Hutton Math. Dict., The complement to 180° is usually called the supplement. 1807 Hutton Course Math. II. 2 The Cosine, Cotangent, and Cosecant, of an arc, are the sine, tangent, and secant of the complement of that arc. 1831 Brewster Optics xix. 169 The maximum polarising angle..is the complement of the angle of refraction. |
c. Astron. The difference between the altitude, latitude, declination, etc. of a heavenly body, and 90 degrees. Abbrev. co-altitude, -latitude, etc.
| 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 322 The Complement of the Poles Elevation..(here at London where the Pole is elevated 51½ Degrees) is 38½ Degrees. 1730–36 Bailey (folio), Complement, the distance of a star from the zenith, or the arch that is comprehended between the place of a star above the horizon and the zenith. 1816 Playfair Nat. Phil. II. 87 If..the sun's greatest altitude in summer, and his least altitude in winter, be determined, half the sum of these altitudes is the complement of the latitude. |
d. Navigation.
| 1696 Phillips, Complement of the Course, so many Points as the Course wants of 90 Degrees or eight Points. 1727–51 Chambers Cycl. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v. |
† e. complement of life (see quot.). Obs.
| 1796 Hutton Dict. Math., Complement of Life, a term much used..by De Moivre [1725 Annuities upon Lives], and, according to him, it denotes the number of years which a given life wants of 86..which he considered as the utmost probable extent of life. |
f. Fortif. c. of the curtain, etc.: see quots.
| 1708 Kersey, Complement of the Courtin..the Remainder of the Courtin after its Flank is taken away. Complement of the Line of Defence, is the Remainder of the Line of Defence, after you have taken away the Angle of the Flank. 1727–51 Chambers Cycl. 1853 Stocqueler Mil. Encycl. |
g. Music. The interval which, together with any given interval, makes up a complete octave.
| 1873 H. C. Banister Music 40 The inversion of an interval being its complement—that which, added to it, would constitute it an 8ve. |
h. Optics. That colour which, mixed with another, produces white.
| 1869 Tyndall in Fortn. Rev. 1 Feb., Every point occupied by a certain colour in the first instance is occupied by the complement of that colour in the second. |
i. Biochem. A thermolabile protein complex found in blood plasma and other body fluids, which by combining with an antigen-antibody complex can bring about the lysis of antigenic substances such as bacteria or red blood cells. Also Comb., as complement-fixation, -fixing, the process in which complement is removed from solution by combination with an antigen-antibody complex and so rendered incapable of lysing any further antigen-antibody system.
| 1900 tr. Ehrlich's Immunity in Proc. R. Soc. LXVI. 443 Solutions containing either only the ‘immune body’ or only the ‘complement’ were brought in contact with suitable blood corpuscles. 1903 [see addiment]. 1906 Jrnl. Exper. Med. VIII. 726 The complement fixation of specific precipitates. 1911 Jrnl. Hygiene XI. 529 No satisfactory distinction between Meningococci and Gonococci can be demonstrated by means of complement-fixation tests. 1921 Proc. Soc. Exper. Biol. & Med. XVIII. 172 The complement-fixing substances present in the sera of syphilitic patients. 1957 Nature 30 Mar. 668/1 Rabbits and guinea pigs immunized with human liver or kidney suspensions developed complement fixation antibodies to several other human tissue antigens. 1970 Passmore & Robson Compan. Med. Studies II. xxii. 16 Complement has the ability to lyse the antibody-coated cells. |
j. Logic and Math. All the members of any set, class, or space of elements that are not in a given subset.
| 1937 S. K. Langer Introd. Symbolic Logic vi. 144 The universe class and the null class are each other's complements. Ibid. 147 Every class which may be formed in a given universe has a complement. 1947 Birkhoff & MacLane Surv. Mod. Algebra xi. 331 Each set S has a ‘complement’ S{p} satisfying S{intsec}S{p} = o, S{union}S{p} = I. 1965 Shih-Chên Hu Elem. Mod. Algebra i. 4 If A is a subset of X, then the difference..will be called the complement of A with respect to X. |
II. Senses connected with compliment, and now so written in 9.
† 6. Anything that goes to make up or fully equip; a completing accessory or adjunct. Obs.
| 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretarie i. (1625) 33 Unarmed against him that was armed, unfurnished against him that had all manner of complements of warre. 1602 R. T. Serm., With all the adjuncts, properties, qualities, duties and complements belonging unto them. 1607 Lingua ii. ii. heading in Hazl. Dodsley IX. 367 Rings, jewels, a fan, and in every place other odd complements. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 360 He..armed himself with a Musket, Sword and Dagger, and other complements. 1693 Sir T. Blount Nat. Hist. 130 Tobacco is by few now taken as Medicinal, it is of late..faln from a Physician to a Complement. |
† 7. That which goes to ‘complete’ the gentleman; a personal accomplishment or quality. Obs.
| 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretarie i. (1625) 146 One whose birth, education, or other complements may sufficiently answere. 1600 B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. i. ii, All the rare qualities, humours and complements of a Gentleman. 1636 Heywood Challenge Beauty ii. Wks. 1874 V. 18 What thinke you of this stranger?.. Of his carriage and complement. |
† 8. a. Any observance that tends to give completeness to the expression of worship, honour, reverence, or the like; a ceremony, a formality. Obs.
| 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lviii. §4 If the case..permitteth not baptism to have the decent complements of baptism. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. xxvi. vii. 296 Bound with firm religious complements. 1610 ― Camden's Brit. (1637) 167 Earles were created in old time without any complement or ceremonie at all. 1643 Prynne Sov. Power Parl. ii. 75 The royall assent..is in truth but a formall Ceremony or complement. 1646 F. Hawkins Youths Behav. ii. §16 For that which concerneth Ceremonies or Complements. |
† b. Observance of ceremony in social relations; ceremoniousness; formal civility, politeness, or courtesy. to keep complement: to observe ceremony. Obs. Now compliment.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. ii. 147 Stay not thy complement, I forgiue thy duetie, adue. 1592 ― Rom. & Jul. ii. ii. 89 Faine would I dwell on forme..but farewell Complement. Doest thou Loue? 1601 ― Twel. N. iii. i. 110 Twas neuer merry world, Since lowly feigning was call'd complement. 1605 ― Lear i. i. 306 Further complement of leaue-taking. 1623 Cockeram, Complement..fine behaviour. 1626 W. Sclater Expos. 2 Thess. (1629) 305 Euen Religion allowes ciuill curtesie: nor are Apostles so precise but to keepe complement. 1641 Brome Jov. Crew ii. 388 A meer load of outward complement. 1670 Walton Lives Introd. 9 True friendship..Is not discharged by complement, and show. |
† 9. A ceremonious or formal tribute of (mere) courtesy paid to any one; pl. ceremonies of civility or politeness. Now compliment, q.v.
| 1578 T. N. tr. Conq. W. India 264 People, with whome such complementes should not be used. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. x. 23 Friendly offices..all the complements of courtesie. 1610 Fletcher Faithful. Sheph. v. i, Banish all complements, but single truth From every tongue. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. (1843) 15/1 The King..made great Complements to the Duke [printed edd. compliments]. 1653 Holcroft Procopius ii. 28 Courting with gifts, and invitations to his table, and other complements. 1665 G. Havers P. della Valle's Trav. E. Ind. 376 Their Heads are continually covered with a Shash..which they never pull off, as we do our Hats in Complements. 1694 R. L'Estrange Fables liv. (1714) 67 The Fox return'd the Complement. 1707 Farquhar Beaux' Strat. v. iii. 64 Come, come, my Lady, this is no time for Complements. |
▪ II. complement, v.
(kɒmplɪˈmɛnt)
[f. prec.]
I. Extant sense.
1. trans. To make complete or perfect, to supply what is wanting; to form the complement to.
| 1641 Baker Chron. (1679) 38/1 He never stayed to complement the disaster. 1865 Reader No. 143. 337/2 Information..from other documents to complement these. 1875 Stubbs Const. Hist. I. ii. 36 The three principles..complement and complicate each other's action. 1879 Farrar St. Paul II. App. 614 Truths which complement but do not contradict each other. |
II. Obsolete senses, afterwards expressed by compliment v.
† 2. intr. To employ ceremonies of formal courtesy, to exchange formal courtesies; to bow. Obs. (= compliment, sense 1.)
| 1612 Beaum. & Fl. Coxcomb i. ii. (1647) 24 Serv. Mistris there are 2 Gentlemen. Mar. Where? Serv. Complementing who should enter first. 1642 Bp. Reynolds Israel's Petit. 3 Complementing with God, and then forsaking him. 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 40 Sometimes 5 Imprimaturs..in the Piatza of one Title-page, complementing and ducking each to other with their shav'n reverences. 1658 Sir Aston Cockain Trappolin iii. i, Complement with me no more than I complement with you. 1697 Mountfort Faustus i. end, Here they Complement who shall go first. |
† b. So to complement it. Obs.
| 1617 Bp. Andrewes 96 Sermons (1661) 651 As if we could complement it with God, with face and phrases, as with men we do. 1624 D. Cawdrey Humilitie Saints Liverie 9 Thus shall you have a man..complement it to the ground, lay his hands under your feet, etc. |
† 3. trans. ‘To sooth with acts or expressions of respect; to flatter; to praise’: see compliment, sense 2. Obs.
| 1649 Fuller Just Man's Fun. 11 Rabshakeh pretended a Commission from God..and complements blasphemie. 1654 Jer. Taylor Real Pres. 26 He cannot escape the Inquisition unlesse he complement the Church, and with a civility tell her that she knows better. 1661 A. Marvell Corresp. Lett. 21 II. 55 Monsieur Du Plessis.. is come ouer from them to complement his Majesty. 1700 Sir W. Calverley Note-bk. (Surtees) 92 Sir John sent..to complement them for their kindness. 1710 Life Bp. Stillingfleet 84 Ready..to strike with the Deists, to complement and cajole them. 1711 Hearne Collect. III. 205 He complements me for my Ed. (most accurate Edition he calls it) of Leland's Itin. |
b. to complement away, out of: see compliment v. 2 b.
| 1640 Nabbes Bride iii. ii, As if the enterteinment..were not chargeable enough, but you must complement away wine and sweet meats. 1645 Fuller Good Th. in Bad T. Hist. Appl. vi. 101 Cæsar complemented his life away. 1665 ― Ch. Hist. vi. iii. 308 King Henry his smiles complemented the former out of their Houses. 1697 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. i. (1709) 231 Lest Church-Men should Complement away the Usefulness and Authority of their Calling; they would do well to decline superlative Observance. 1715 M. Davies Athen. Brit. i. 129 To shorten disputes..and so complement them out of their Heresies. |
† 4. to complement (a person) with (something): to present him with it as a mark of courtesy. Obs. (Now compliment, sense 4.)
| 1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1698) I. xii. 328 He may be..complemented..with Tobacco and Betel-nut. 1732 in L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 92 That the Right Honole Hugh Lord Willoughby..be complemented with his freedom. |
Hence ˈcomplementing vbl. n. and ppl. a. = complimenting.
| 1626 W. Sclater Expos. 2 Thess. (1629) 74 All Complementings with Idolaters. 1649 Milton Eikon. xx. (1851) 481 God, who stood neerer then hee for complementing minded, writ down those words. 1658 Whole Duty Man v. §22. 47 It's but a kind of formal complementing. 1704 J. Blair in W. Perry Hist. Coll. Amer. Col. Ch. I. 94 They had refused to sign a complementing address. |