Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Complement
Com′ple-ment
,Noun.
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°.
– Complement of a parallelogram
. (Math.)
See
– Gnomon
. In her complement
(Her.)
, said of the moon when represented as full.
Com′ple-ment
,Verb.
T.
1.
To supply a lack; to supplement.
[R.]
2.
To compliment.
[Obs.]
Jer. Taylor.
Webster 1828 Edition
Complement
COMPLEMENT
, n.1.
Fulness; completion; whence, perfection.They as they feasted had their fill,
For a full complement of all their ill.
2.
Full quantity or number; the quantity or number limited; as, a company has its complement of men; a ship has its complement of stores.3.
That which is added, not as necessary, but as ornamental; something adventitious to the main thing; ceremony. [See Compliment.]garnished and decked in modest complement.
4.
In geometry, what remains of the quadrant of a circle, or of ninety degrees, after any arch has been taken from it. Thus if the arch taken is thirty degrees, its complement is sixty.5.
In astronomy, the distance of a star from the zenith.6.
Arithmetical complement of a logarithm, is what the logarithm wants of 10,000,000.7.
In fortification, the complement of the curtain is that part in the interior side which makes the demigorge.