complementary

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

com·ple·men·ta·ry

(kŏm′plə-mĕn′tə-rē, -trē)

adj.

1. Forming or serving as a complement; completing: finally acquired the complementary volumes that made a whole set.

2. Offsetting mutual deficiencies or enhancing mutual strengths: "Creatures with complementary skills flourish in each other's presence" (Richard Dawkins).

3. Of or relating to complementary medicine.

4. Genetics Of or relating to a group of genes that act in concert to produce a specific phenotype.

5. Biochemistry Of or relating to the specific pairing of the purines and pyrimidines between strands of a DNA or an RNA molecule.

6. Physics Of or relating to the hypothesis that underlying properties of entities, especially subatomic particles, may manifest themselves in mutually exclusive forms at different times, depending on the conditions of the observation, and that any physical model that describes entities in terms of one form or the other will be incomplete.

com′ple·men′ta·ri·ly (-tə-rə-lē, -trə-lē, -mĕn-târ′ə-lē) adv.

com′ple·men′ta·ri·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

complementary

(ˌkɒmplɪˈmɛntərɪ; -trɪ) or

complemental

adj

1. acting as or forming a complement; completing

2. forming a satisfactory or balanced whole

3. (Mathematics) forming a mathematical complement: sine and cosine are complementary functions.

4. (Mathematics) maths logic (of a pair of sets, etc) mutually exclusive and exhaustive, each being the complement of the other

5. (Logic) maths logic (of a pair of sets, etc) mutually exclusive and exhaustive, each being the complement of the other

6. (Genetics) (of genes) producing an effect in association with other genes

7. (Complementary Medicine) involving or using the treatments and techniques of complementary medicine

ˌcompleˈmentarily, ˌcompleˈmentally adv

ˌcompleˈmentariness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

com•ple•men•ta•ry

(ˌkɒm pləˈmɛn tə ri, -tri)

adj.

1. forming a complement; completing.

2. complementing each other.

3. designating or consisting of a strand of DNA or RNA that can serve as a template for another strand.

[1590–1600]

com`ple•men′ta•ri•ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	complementary - either one of two chromatic colors that when mixed together give white (in the case of lights) or grey (in the case of pigments); "yellow and blue are complementaries" complementary color chromatic color, chromatic colour, spectral color, spectral colour - a color that has hue
Adj.	1.	complementary - of words or propositions so related that each is the negation of the other; "`male' and `female' are complementary terms" antonymous - of words: having opposite meanings
	2.	complementary - acting as or providing a complement (something that completes the whole) complemental, completing additive - characterized or produced by addition; "an additive process"

complementary

adjective matching, companion, corresponding, compatible, reciprocal, interrelating, interdependent, harmonizing Many plain tiles and complementary borders are available.
different, contradictory, incompatible, incongruous

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

complementary

adjective

Forming or serving as a complement:

complemental, supplemental.

Translations

مُتَمِّممُكَمِّل، مُتَمِّم

doplňkovýdoplňující se

komplementær

komplementär ergänzend Ergänzungs-...

συμπληρωματικός

complementario

täydentävä

complémentaire

komplementaran

egymást kiegészítõ

uppbótar-; sem bæta hver annan upp

complementare

補完的な

보충하는

complementair

komplementær supplerende utfyllende

uzupełniający

complementar

комплементарный взаимодополняющий

kompletterande

เสริมซึ่งกันและกัน

bütünleyicitamamlayıcı

bổ sung

补充的

complementary

[ˌkɒmplɪˈmentərɪ] ADJ → complementario
the skirt and jacket are complementary → la falda y la chaqueta son del mismo traje

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

complementary

[ˌkɒmplɪˈmɛntəri] adj → complémentairecomplementary medicine n → médecine f parallèle, médecine f douce

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

complementary

adj colour → Komplementär-; angle → Ergänzungs-; a complementary pair → ein zusammengehöriges Paar; two complementary characters → zwei einander ergänzende Charaktere; they are complementary to each other → sie ergänzen sich or einander; they have complementary interests → ihre Interessen ergänzen sich

complementary

complementary colour, (US) complementary color

n → Komplementärfarbe f

complementary medicine

n → Komplementärmedizin f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

complementary

[ˌkɒmplɪˈmɛnt/ərɪ] adj → complementare
the food and wine were complementary → il cibo e il vino erano ben assortiti

complement

(ˈkompləmənt) noun

1. in a sentence, the words of the predicate, not including the verb.

2. (something added to make) a complete number or amount.

verb

to complete, fill up.

compleˈmentary adjective

the complement (not compliment) of a verb.

complementary

→ مُتَمِّم doplňkový komplementær ergänzend συμπληρωματικός complementario täydentävä complémentaire komplementaran complementare 補完的な 보충하는 complementair komplementær uzupełniający complementar взаимодополняющий kompletterande เสริมซึ่งกันและกัน bütünleyici bổ sung 补充的

complementary

adj complementario

References in classic literature ?

To speak with severe technicality, a ship or a fleet is "brought up" - the complementary words unpronounced and unwritten being, of course, "to an anchor." Less technically, but not less correctly, the word "anchored," with its characteristic appearance and resolute sound, ought to be good enough for the newspapers of the greatest maritime country in the world.

View in context

Seventeenth century Puritanism was to find a supreme spokesman in prose fiction as well as in poetry; John Milton and John Bunyan, standing at widely different angles of experience, make one of the most interesting complementary pairs in all literature.

View in context

4, together with the proper complementary details -- and two of my trained assistants." And I said:

View in context

According to the new American plan, the two are not competitive, but complementary. The one is a supplement to the other.

View in context

This is complementary to the first three verses of par.

View in context

Will-making and will-breaking became complementary trades, like armor-making and gun-making.

View in context

Fact.MR has announced the addition of the "Complementary Therapy Devices Market Forecast, Trend Analysis & Competition Tracking - Global Review 2018 to 2028"report to their offering.

Complementary Therapy Devices Market, 2018-2028 by Segmentation Based on Product, Application and

Worldwide, the healthcare environment is changing rapidly, and the past decade has seen increasing attention given to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

Australia: Leading Regulation of Complementary Medicines: TheTGA recently implemented a Compliance Rating Scheme for listed medicines

News Desk Health experts said timely introduction to complementary feeding would significantly contribute to prevent child malnutrition.

Complementary feedings can help prevent child malnutrition

Summary: Fact.MR has announced the addition of the " Complementary Therapy Devices Market Forecast, Trend Analysis & Competition Tracking - Global Review 2018 to 2028"report to their offering.

Complementary Therapy Devices Market Growth and Forecast 2018 to 2028

Johnson's study compared outcomes of 258 patients who had been flagged as utilizing complementary or alternative therapies (CM) against matched controls who did not use CM therapies.