complemental

complemental

English

Etymology

From complement +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛntəl

Adjective

complemental (not comparable)

1. Of the nature of a complement; completing.
2. Complementary.
3. (obsolete) Additional; supplemental, accessory; ancillary.
   • 1643, Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, I.18:

     [I]t is an error worse than heresie, to adore these complemental and circumstantial pieces of felicity, and undervalue those perfections and essential points of happiness wherein we resemble our Maker.

4. (obsolete) Of the nature of a ceremony that is not essential but accessory; ceremonial; ceremonious; formal.
5. (obsolete) Of persons: accomplished; talented; experienced.
6. (obsolete) Complimentary.
   • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene i]:

     I will make a complemental assault upon him

   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 39, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:

     I have no skill in ceremonious letters, which have no other substance, but a faire contexture of complemental phrases and curteous words.

Derived terms

• complemental angle
• complemental air
• complemental male

References

• “complemental”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989, →ISBN.