complement

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“
To Rachel he arrived as the complement, the consolidation, of the resolve that she had made.

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Definitions (38)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (12)

  1. noun Something that completes, makes up a whole, or brings to perfection.
  2. noun The quantity or number needed to make up a whole: shelves with a full complement of books.
  3. noun Either of two parts that complete the whole or mutually complete each other.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (17)

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Examples (50)

  • What we call the complement-fixation test, which is a blood test for gonorrhea similar to the Wassermann blood-test for syphilis, must be negative Referring to conditions 1 and 2, it sometimes happens that the patient has a minute amount of discharge or a few shreds in the urine, and I still permit him to marry; but this is done only after the discharge and shreds have been repeatedly examined and have been found to be catarrhal in character and absolutely free from any gonococci or other germs It sometimes happens that a patient comes to me for an examination a few days before the date set for the wedding. —  Woman Her Sex and Love Life
  • All this forms the MISHNA The GEMARA, that is, the complement or perfection_, contains the DISPUTES and the OPINIONS of the RABBINS on the oral traditions. —  Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1 (of 3)
  • In the case of the destruction of bacteria in the blood by the action of amboceptor and complement, the amboceptor must be able to combine with both the bacterial cell and the complement which brings about its destruction, and just as antitoxine is formed so new amboceptors may be formed Few hypotheses have been advanced in science which are more ingenious, in better accord with the facts, have had greater importance in enabling the student to grasp the intricacies of an obscure problem, and which have had an equal influence in stimulating research. —  Disease and Its Causes
  • You say her not coming to the door when you went is a proof--yes, that her complement is at present full! —  Liber Amoris, or, the New Pygmalion
  • Too bad Cheney will take the Limbaugh comparison as a complement, as will Limbaugh. —  CNN Political Ticker
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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complement:   complemented ·  complements
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old French, from Latin complēmentum, from complēre, to fill out; see complete.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. = D. Danish Swedish komplement = German complement = Old French compliement, compliment, later complement, French complément = Provencal complement = Spanish Portuguese Italian complemento, complement, from Latin complementum, that which fills up or completes, from complere, conplere, fill up, complete: see complete, a. and v. Cf. compliment.
  2. from complement, n.
 

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/ˈkɑmpləmɛnt/
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