From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Complement \Com"ple*ment\, noun [L. complementun: cf. F. compl['e]ment. See {Complete}, verb (used with an object), and cf. {Compliment}.]
1. That which fills up or completes; the quantity or number required to fill a thing or make it complete.
2. That which is required to supply a deficiency, or to complete a symmetrical whole.
History is the complement of poetry. --Sir J. Stephen.
3. Full quantity, number, or amount; a complete set; completeness.
To exceed his complement and number appointed him which was one hundred and twenty persons. --Hakluyt.
4. (Math.) A second quantity added to a given quantity to make it equal to a third given quantity.
5. Something added for ornamentation; an accessory. [Obs.]
Without vain art or curious complements. --Spenser.
6. (Naut.) The whole working force of a vessel.
7. (Mus.) The interval wanting to complete the octave; -- the fourth is the complement of the fifth, the sixth of the third.
8. A compliment. [Obs.] --Shak.
{Arithmetical compliment of a logarithm}. See under {Logarithm}.
{Arithmetical complement of a number} (Math.), the difference between that number and the next higher power of 10; as, 4 is the complement of 6, and 16 of 84.
{Complement of an arc} or {Complement of an angle} (Geom.), the difference between that arc or angle and 90[deg].
{Complement of a parallelogram}. (Math.) See {Gnomon}.
{In her complement} (Her.), said of the moon when represented as full.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Complement \Com"ple*ment\, verb (used with an object)
1. To supply a lack; to supplement. [R.]
2. To compliment. [Obs.] --Jer. Taylor.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: a word or phrase used to complete a grammatical construction
2: a complete number or quantity; "a full complement"
3: number needed to make up whole force; "a full complement of workers" [syn: {full complement}]
4: something added to complete or make perfect; "a fine wine is a perfect complement to the dinner"
5: one of a series of enzymes in the blood serum that are part of the immune response
6: either of two parts that mutually complete each other
verb
1: make complete or perfect; supply what is wanting or form the complement to; "I need some pepper to complement the sweet touch in the soup"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
267 Moby Thesaurus words for "complement": A to Z, A to izzard, IC analysis, accession, accessory, accompaniment, add to, addenda, addendum, additament, addition, additive, additory, additum, adjunct, adjuvant, age group, aggregate, all, all and sundry, allowance, ally, alpha and omega, alter ego, analogon, analogue, annex, annexation, answer, answer to, appanage, appendage, appendant, appositive, appurtenance, appurtenant, assemblage, associate, attachment, attribute, attributive, augment, augmentation, bakehead, band, battalion, be-all, be-all and end-all, beginning and end, bellyful, bevy, black gang, body, boilerman, brigade, brother, bumper, bunch, bungs, cabal, cabin boy, capacity, cast, charge, chips, clique, close copy, close match, coda, coequal, cognate, cohort, commissary steward, companion, company, complete, completion, concomitant, confirmation, congenator, congener, construction modifier, consummation, contingent, continuation, coordinate, corollary, corps, correlate, correlative, correspond, correspond to, correspondent, coterie, counterpart, covey, cram, crew, crowd, crush, cutting, deckhand, deckie, deep structure, detachment, detail, direct object, division, each and every, eight, eleven, enhance, enhancement, enrichment, equivalent, everything, extension, extrapolation, faction, fellow, fill, filler, fireman, first string, first team, five, fixture, fleet, form-function unit, full house, full measure, function, gang, group, grouping, groupment, gun loader, gunner, hand, hospital steward, image, immediate constituent analysis, in-group, increase, increment, indirect object, jam up, junta, kindred spirit, lading, landing signalman, length and breadth, levels, like, likeness, load, mail orderly, makeweight, mate, mob, modifier, mouthful, movement, navigator, near duplicate, nine, object, obverse, offshoot, oiler, one and all, out-group, outfit, pack, package, package deal, parallel, party, peer group, pendant, perfect, perfection, phalanx, phrase structure, picture, platoon, posse, predicate, purser, qualifier, quorum, quota, radio operator, ranks, reciprocal, reciprocate, regiment, reinforcement, reserves, respond to, round out, roustabout, rowing crew, salon, second self, second string, second team, set, set off, shallow structure, side effect, side issue, similitude, simulacrum, sister, skinful, slot, slot and filler, snip, snips, snootful, soul mate, sparks, squad, stable, steward, stewardess, stoker, strata, string, structure, subject, such, suchlike, supplement, surface structure, syntactic analysis, syntactic structure, syntactics, syntax, tagmeme, tailpiece, tally, team, the corpus, the ensemble, the entirety, the like of, the likes of, the lot, the whole, the whole range, third string, top off, torpedoman, tribe, troop, troupe, twin, undergirding, underlying structure, varsity, watch, wing, word arrangement, word order, yeoman
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
complement The other value or values in the set of possible values. See {logical complement}, {bitwise complement}, {set complement}. (1995-01-24)
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