complement

complement n Complement, supplement are comparable both as nouns meaning one thing that makes up for a want or deficiency in another thing and as verbs meaning to supply what is needed to make up for such a want or deficiency.

Complement implies a completing; it may suggest such a relation between two things or two groups of things that if they are put together they form a whole, or the full number, amount, or quantity necessary for a given purpose; thus, a grammatical complement is a word or phrase which must be added to a predicate if the latter is to make a definite assertion (as well in "he feels well," free in "to set him free," of no use in "it proved of no use")

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bought a farm complete with its complement of implements and livestock

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you need two more chairs to complement those you already have in the room

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However, the term even more often suggests such disparity in two things that what is supplied by either one is lacking in the other, with the result that their actual or theoretical combination gives a completeness that constitutes or approaches perfection

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had found someone whose . . . masculinity was the very complement of his own fragile graces— Horace Gregory

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no adequate conception of the pictorial art of Asia can be attained without taking account of these wonderful works [of Japanese figure painting], complementing, as they do, the philosophic and poetic art which culminated in the Chinese painting of the Sung era— Binyon

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the chief products of Belgium and the Netherlands appeared to complement more than to duplicate one another— Valentine

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Supplement implies an addition to something relatively complete but capable of improvement, enrichment, or enhancement by such an addition; thus, a supplement to a newspaper (often, a "book supplement" or "literary supplement") is an additional section which enriches the character of the issue. Usually the term means exactly this

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a year of foreign travel is an excellent supplement to a college education

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supplement a work with an index

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the detailed study of history should be supplemented by brilliant outlines— Russell

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Sometimes, however, the term carries the implication of needless addition

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the policy of apartheid is only a political supplement to an economic policy— Ross

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Sometimes, on the other hand, it comes close to complement in suggesting essential differences or a need of combination if perfection is to be attained

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physics, history, and religion have their different valuations of experience .... A complete philosophy would find room for all and would show how they supplement each other— Inge

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the settle, which is the necessary supplement to a fire so open that nothing less than a strong breeze will carry up the smoke— Hardy

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Analogous words: counterpart, correlate, *parallel

complement vb supplement (see under COMPLEMENT n)

Analogous words: complete, finish, *close