Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Having to do with or being a complement.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Forming a complement; supplying a deficiency; completing.
- In zoology, forming a complement to the female or to a hermaphrodite; complementary: applied to minute or rudimentary males of some animals, as cirripeds.
- Additional and ornamental; supplemental.
- Complimentary.
- Accomplished.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Supplying, or tending to supply, a deficiency; fully completing.
- adjective obsolete Complimentary; courteous.
- adjective (Physiol.) the air (averaging 100 cubic inches) which can be drawn into the lungs in addition to the tidal air, by the deepest possible inspiration.
- adjective (Zoöl.) peculiar small males living parasitically on the ordinary hermaphrodite individuals of certain barnacles.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of the nature of a
complement ; completing. - adjective
Complementary . - adjective obsolete
Additional ;supplemental ,accessory ;ancillary . - adjective obsolete Of the nature of a ceremony that is not essential but accessory;
ceremonial ; ceremonious; formal. - adjective obsolete Of persons: accomplished; talented; experienced.
- adjective obsolete
Complimentary .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective acting as or providing a complement (something that completes the whole)
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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But in some genera the larvæ become developed into hermaphrodites having the ordinary structure, and into what I have called complemental males; and in the latter the development has assuredly been retrograde, for the male is a mere sack, which lives for a short time and is destitute of mouth, stomach, and every other organ of importance, excepting those for reproduction.
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But in some genera the larvae become developed either into hermaphrodites having the ordinary structure, or into what I have called complemental males: and in the latter, the development has assuredly been retrograde; for the male is a mere sack, which lives for a short time, and is destitute of mouth, stomach, or other organ of importance, excepting for reproduction.
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But in some genera the larvae become developed either into hermaphrodites having the ordinary structure, or into what I have called complemental males: and in the latter, the development has assuredly been retrograde; for the male is a mere sack, which lives for a short time, and is destitute of mouth, stomach, or other organ of importance, excepting for reproduction.
On the Origin of Species~ Chapter 13 (historical) Charles Darwin 1859
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But in some genera the larvæ become developed either into hermaphrodites having the ordinary structure, or into what I have called complemental males: and in the latter, the development has assuredly been retrograde; for the male is
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. (2nd edition) Charles Darwin 1845
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But in some genera the larvae become developed either into hermaphrodites having the ordinary structure, or into what I have called complemental males: and in the latter, the development has assuredly been retrograde; for the male is a mere sack, which lives for a short time, and is destitute of mouth, stomach, or other organ of importance, excepting for reproduction.
On the origin of species Charles Darwin 1845
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In this country, however, we have not so far been so fortunate, or otherwise, as to attain the Continental ideal of what the graphic portion of a literary performance should be; and the question is intimately associated, particularly in France and among foreign buyers of the French school, who are numerous in all parts of the world, with that of binding, inasmuch as a volume possessing pictorial embellishments of whatever kind must fulfil all requirements in that respect no less than in the outward vesture, and what may be termed the complemental book-plate.
The Book-Collector A General Survey of the Pursuit and of those who have engaged in it at Home and Abroad from the Earliest Period to the Present Time William Carew Hazlitt 1873
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Also in Stop Smiling, Nicolas Rapold on the new edition of Don't Look Back, which includes Bob Dylan 65 Revisited, "a kind of complemental alternate take."
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It is when we consider the reproductive organs themselves and their forms of activity, and such parts of the organism modified directly in relation to them, that a real and important difference is found to exist, radical though absolutely complemental.
Woman and Labour 2003
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Wherefore, hereditary succession in the early ages of monarchy could not take place as a matter of claim, but as something casual or complemental; but as few or no records were extant in those days, the traditionary history stuff'd with fables, it was very easy, after the lapse of a few generations, to trump up some superstitious tale conveniently timed, Mahomet-like, to cram hereditary right down the throats of the vulgar.
Common Sense 2002
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Neoteinic: applied to complemental females in Termites because, though reproductive, they retain some juvenile characters.
Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology John. B. Smith
thisthinksonme commented on the word complemental
There is a glaring error on this page that any second grader in a year before 1990 would find. For the benefit of a community that never questions its desperate fantasy of significance or considers the victims it creates by selfishly pursuing eternal convenience, the error will not be identified here, which will preserve the possibility that someone will learn something. If this is a community of word-lovers, it will enjoy a challenge; if this is a community of overwhelming insecurity, its self-indulgent gibberish will continue, having little effect on the fear that isolation may not be enough to prevent the destructive revelation that this community's commitment is not to words but pretension.
December 12, 2015
bilby commented on the word complemental
Suddenly I feel like making a collective list of our desperate fantasies.
December 14, 2015
bilby commented on the word complemental
I love watching passive agressive types do the whole I'M SO PEEVED OH MY I AM SOOO PEEVED IN FACT SOOOOOOOO PEEVED TO SPLEENY DUDGEON I CAN'T POSSIBLY EXPLAIN WHY BUT IT'S SOMETHING YOU DID BYE thing.
December 14, 2015
alexz commented on the word complemental
I posted a long winded response, but found myself monlogue-ing and deleted that reply.
December 14, 2015
qms commented on the word complemental
I read your short-lived response, alexz, and it was a noble effort, but this is just a case of a provocateur unloading a few drive-by insults. Such types are best ignored.
December 14, 2015
bilby commented on the word complemental
Now you've got me wondering whether Almost Solveig should change its name to Commitment To Pretention. I'll discuss it with the drummer when she's finished tattooing her eyeballs.
December 14, 2015
bilby commented on the word complemental
And the bass player when he's back from reintroducing woylies to the western desert.
December 14, 2015