From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Complex \Com"plex\, noun [L. complexus] Assemblage of related things; collection; complication.
This parable of the wedding supper comprehends in it the whole complex of all the blessings and privileges exhibited by the gospel. --South.
{Complex of lines} (Geom.), all the possible straight lines in space being considered, the entire system of lines which satisfy a single relation constitute a complex; as, all the lines which meet a given curve make up a complex. The lines which satisfy two relations constitute a congruency of lines; as, the entire system of lines, each one of which meets two given surfaces, is a congruency.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Complex \Com"plex\ (k[o^]m"pl[e^]ks), adjective [L. complexus, p. p. of complecti to entwine around, comprise; com- + plectere to twist, akin to plicare to fold. See {Plait}, noun]
1. Composed of two or more parts; composite; not simple; as, a complex being; a complex idea.
Ideas thus made up of several simple ones put together, I call complex; such as beauty, gratitude, a man, an army, the universe. --Locke.
2. Involving many parts; complicated; intricate.
When the actual motions of the heavens are calculated in the best possible way, the process is difficult and complex. --Whewell.
{Complex fraction}. See {Fraction}.
{Complex number} (Math.), in the theory of numbers, an expression of the form a + b[root]-1, when a and b are ordinary integers.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: complicated in structure; consisting of interconnected parts; "a complex set of variations based on a simple folk melody"; "a complex mass of diverse laws and customs" [ant: {simple}]
noun
1: a conceptual whole made up of complicated and related parts; "the complex of shopping malls, houses, and roads created a new town" [syn: {composite}]
2: a compound described in terms of the central atom to which other atoms are bound or coordinated [syn: {coordination compound}]
3: (psychoanalysis) a combination of emotions and impulses that have been rejected from awareness but still influence a person's behavior
4: a whole structure (as a building) made up of interconnected or related structures [syn: {building complex}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
211 Moby Thesaurus words for "complex": Byzantine, Chinese puzzle, Diana complex, Electra complex, Gordian knot, Herculean, Oedipus complex, Rube Goldberg contraption, abstruse, acculturation, amalgamated, ambiguous, ambivalent, amphibious, arduous, baffling, balled up, bewildering, beyond one, blended, brutal, can of worms, castration complex, civilization, collectivity, combined, complicated, composite, compound, compounded, compulsion, confounded, confounding, confused, confusing, conglomerate, convoluted, crabbed, cramp, critical, cultural drift, culture, culture area, culture center, culture complex, culture conflict, culture contact, culture pattern, culture trait, daedal, dappled, delicate, demanding, devious, difficile, difficult, distracting, disturbing, eclectic, elaborate, embodiment, embrangled, entangled, entirety, equivocal, ethos, exacting, fascination, father complex, fifty-fifty, fixation, fixed idea, folkways, formidable, fouled up, garbled, gordian, hairy, half-and-half, hang-up, hard, hard to understand, hard-earned, hard-fought, heterogeneous, hypercathexis, idee fixe, implicated, indiscriminate, inferiority complex, integer, integration, integrity, intricate, involute, involuted, involved, ironic, irresistible impulse, jawbreaking, jumbled, jungle, key trait, knot, knotted, knotty, laborious, labyrinth, labyrinthian, labyrinthine, loused up, many-faceted, many-sided, matted, maze, mazy, mean, meander, meandering, medley, mesh, mess, messed up, mingled, miscellaneous, mixed, mixed up, mixed-up, monomania, morbid drive, mores, mother complex, motley, mucked up, multifaceted, multifarious, multinational, multiracial, mysterious, mystifying, no picnic, not easy, obfuscated, obscure, obscured, obsession, obsessive compulsion, oneness, operose, organic unity, overtechnical, parent complex, patchy, perplex, perplexed, perplexing, persecution complex, pluralistic, possession, preoccupation, prepossession, promiscuous, puzzling, ramified, ravel, reticular, rigorous, rough, roundabout, rugged, ruling passion, scrambled, screwed up, set with thorns, severe, snafu, snake pit, snarl, snarled, society, sophisticated, spiny, steep, strenuous, subtle, superiority complex, syncretic, tangle, tangled, tangled skein, tangly, thorny, thrown together, tic, ticklish, toilsome, totality, tough, trait, trait-complex, tricky, twisted, unity, uphill, vague, varied, webwork, wheels within wheels, whole, wicked, wilderness
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