complementaryadj.n.
/kɒmplɪˈmɛntəri/ A. adj.† 2. Ceremonious: = complemental adj. 4. Obsolete.
1.
a. Forming a complement, completing, perfecting. complementary bone: an accessory bone in the lower jaw of reptiles and birds. complementary cells, complementary tissue: cells or tissue of plants not distinguished by a special term. ( New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon)
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [adjective] > making complete
fulfilling1340
consummating1582
teleiotical1601
complemental1811
complementary1835
completing1861
1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. I. 141/1 The muscular system.. finally, provided with a complementary skeleton or frame~work by means of which it acts to the best advantage.
1860 B. F. Westcott Introd. Study Gospels (ed. 5) vii. 368 The ‘Gospel of St. Paul’ is..the complementary history to that of St. Matthew.
1877 W. Sparrow Serm. xxii. 300 The latter complementary and completing of the former.
1884 F. O. Bower & D. H. Scott tr. H. A. de Bary Compar. Anat. Phanerogams & Ferns 561 The elements termed by Stahl the complementary cells of the lenticel.
b. Of two (or more) things: Mutually complementing or completing each other's deficiencies.
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the world > relative properties > relationship > correlation > [adjective]
redditivec1525
correlative1530
reciprocate?1532
responsive1604
reciprocal1617
collateral1659
equivalenta1661
responding1670
co-relative1761
relative1849
correlate1850
correlated1859
complementary1860
obverse1875
double of1876
complemental1882–3
dual1947
intercorrelational1970
1860 B. F. Westcott Introd. Study Gospels (new ed.) v. 266 Histories..not contradictory but complementary.
1882 J. Hawthorne Fortune's Fool (1883) i. xxvii A united and mutually complementary pair.
c. complementary angles: angles which together make up a right angle. complementary colours (hues, etc.): colours which, in combination, produce white or colourless light.
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the world > matter > colour > [noun] > complementary colour
complementary colours (hues, etc.)1829
complementaryc1865
complement1869
1829 Nat. Philos. (Libr. Useful Knowl.) I. Optics 47 The accidental colours have also been called complementary colours.
1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics xii. 103 The colour transmitted is always complementary to the one reflected, or which, when mixed with it, would make white light.
1873 P. H. Pye-Smith tr. H. von Helmholtz in E. Atkinson et al. tr. H. von Helmholtz Pop. Lect. Sci. Subj. 256 The after-image accordingly appears of a bluish green, the complementary colour to red.
d. complementary goods n. (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1891 W. Smart tr. Böhm-Bawerk Positive Theory Capital ix. 170 Thus, for instance, paper, pen and ink, needle and thread, cart and horse, bow and arrow,..and so on, are complementary goods.
1891 W. Smart tr. Böhm-Bawerk Positive Theory Capital ix. 175 Almost every product is the result of the co-operation of a group of complementary goods consisting of uses of ground, labour, fixed and floating capital.
1892 Palgrave's Dict. Pol. Econ. 380/1 Complementary goods, this expression is used by the Austrian economist Menger..who describes goods as of first, second, or higher rank in order of production... This conception becomes of special interest when the value of the complementary goods is considered for each separately.
e. complementary distribution n. in Linguistics, a distribution of two or more similar or related speech-sounds or forms in such a manner that they appear only in different environments.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > [noun] > complementary distribution
complementary distribution1934
complementation1937
1934 M. Swadesh in Language X. 123 The criterion of complementary distribution. If it is true of two similar types of sounds that only one of them normally occurs in certain phonetic surroundings and that only the other normally occurs in certain other phonetic surroundings, the two may be sub-types of the same phoneme.
1942 C. F. Hockett in Language 18 9 If a and b are in complementary distribution (i.e. if they occur in mutually exclusive positions), they may be..members of the same phoneme.
1949 E. A. Nida Morphol. (ed. 2) ii. 44 (heading) Determination of allomorphs by complementary distribution.
1949 E. A. Nida Morphol. (ed. 2) ii. 44 The three types of plural formatives..are all in complementary distribution.
1953 C. E. Bazell Ling. Form 7 But complementary distribution does not here imply irrelevance.
1965 W. S. Allen Vox Latina 9 The fact that an initial t in English (as in tin) is more strongly aspirated than a final t (as in hat) is not responsible for any difference of meaning, since the two varieties occur only in different environments, and so cannot contrast with one another—they are in ‘complementary’ and not parallel distribution.
f. complementary function n. in Mathematics, that part of the general solution of a linear differential equation which is the general solution of the associated homogeneous equation obtained by subsituting zero for the terms not containing the dependent variable.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > algebra > [noun] > expression > equation > solution to
singular solutiona1832
complementary function1841
solution set1959
1841 D. F. Gregory Examples of Processes of Differential & Integral Calculus ii. iv. 295 As operating factors of the form (d/dx)2 + n2 very frequently occur in differential equations, it is convenient to keep in mind that the complementary function due to it is of the form C cos nx + C′ sin nx.
1920 H. T. H. Piaggio Elem. Treat. Differential Equations vii. 88 An elegant but somewhat artificial method for finding the complete primitive of a linear equation whose complementary function is known.
1957 I. N. Sneddon Elem. Partial Differential Equations iii. 97 If u is the complementary function and z1 a particular integral of a linear partial differential equation, then u + z1 is a general solution of the equation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > ostentation > ceremony or formality > [adjective]
ceremonial138.
ceremonious1555
ceremonicala1627
complementary1628
complemental1637
complimental1686
Winterhalter1913
1628 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. lv. sig. K5 Whose entertainments to greater men are respectfull not complementary.
1657 J. Sergeant Schism Dispach't 372 Nothing but a dry complementary precedency to walk, stand, or speak first.
B. n.† 1. A master of accomplishments. Obsolete.
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the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [noun] > skilful person > a master of accomplishments
complementary1616
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > [noun] > seemly behaviour or propriety > quality that fits one for society > one possessing
complementary1616
1616 B. Jonson Cynthias Revels (rev. ed.) v. iv, in Wks. I. 240 Amo. Is he a Master? Crit..., confirmed vnder the hands of the most skilfull, and cunning complementaries aliue.
2. Short for ‘complementary colour’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > [noun] > complementary colour
complementary colours (hues, etc.)1829
complementaryc1865
complement1869
c1865 J. Wylde Circle of Sci. I. 83/2 Their complementaries come in view on the analyser being moved.
Derivatives
compleˈmentariness n. complementary quality or state.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > correlation > [noun]
analogy1533
communiona1538
correlation1561
correspondency1607
connection1613
correlativeness1727
co-relation1836
interrelation1848
interradiation1855
interconnection1856
interrelatedness1865
interrelationship1867
assonance1868
correlativity1877
complementariness1881
interlinkage1904
complementarity1911
interconnectedness1922
1881 J. Le Conte Sight 61 This..seems a probable cause of complementariness.
Draft additions 1997
g. Designating or pertaining to medicine seen by its practitioners as complementary to traditional or orthodox medicine but not based on modern scientific knowledge and not recognized by the majority of medical practitioners. Cf. alternative medicine n. at alternative adj. and n. Compounds.
ΚΠ
1981 Which? Aug. 473/3 Many alternative practitioners prefer the terms complementary or supplementary therapies for their work.
1982 Fulder & Monro Status Complementary Med. in U.K. i. 1 After extensive consideration of titles such as ‘alternative medicine’, ‘fringe medicine’ or ‘natural therapeutics’ we have decided to use the term ‘complementary medicine’ to describe systems..which stand apart from but are in some ways complementary to conventional scientific medicine.
1986 Here's Health Apr. 128/1 Alternative, or complementary, medicine..stands for systems of medicine which treat people rather than disease.
1986 Guardian 18 May 3/1 Treatments ranging from acupuncture to Bach flower remedies were condemned as divisive and negative by the two leading organisations for complementary medicine.
1987 Daily Tel. 3 Mar. 11/1 About one in seven of us visit some form of ‘natural’, ‘alternative’, ‘unorthodox’ or ‘complementary’ therapist each year.
1988 Natural Choice i. 15/1 I would advise you to see a doctor or a complementary practitioner.
1989 S. Fulder Handbk. Complementary Med. (rev. ed.) ii. 31 Some doctors of the author's acquaintance assume that complementary therapy patients are either neurotic or hypochondriacal.
1989 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 6 May 1200/2 Conventional and complementary treatment for cancer.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.1616