WATCH: When Do We Use Compliment Vs. Complement?
Compliment and complement are commonly confused terms because they’re pronounced alike and originally shared some meanings.
But over time, they’ve become separate words with entirely different definitions.
What does聽肠辞尘辫濒别尘别苍迟听mean?
Complement with an E聽is the older of the two terms. Its noun sense has been around in English since the 1300s.
The term derives from the Latin 肠辞尘辫濒脓尘别苍迟耻尘, meaning 鈥渟omething that completes.鈥� So, that means if something complements something else, it completes it, enhances it, or makes it perfect.
A shirt can complement the color of someone鈥檚 eyes, or a wine can complement a meal. When we talk about complementary angles, or complementary colors, it’s this sense of 肠辞尘辫濒别尘别苍迟听that is being used. Complementary angles are two angles that add up to produce a 90掳 angle. Complementary colors are colors that are directly across from each other on the color wheel, and they enhance each other by their contrast, such as red and green, purple and yellow, and blue and orange.
What does聽肠辞尘辫濒颈尘别苍迟听mean?
Compliment with an I聽is from the mid-1600s. It came to English from the Spanish cumplimiento. But, the real confusion comes from the fact that compliment聽(with an I)聽ultimately derives from the same Latin root as 肠辞尘辫濒别尘别苍迟听(with an聽E), 肠辞尘辫濒脓尘别苍迟耻尘, and that accounts for some of the early overlap in meaning.
You can pay someone a compliment, or compliment someone on a job well done. People sometimes use the phrase compliments to the chef after enjoying a good meal.
Something that is complimentary is free, for examples, airlines offer complimentary sodas on flights.
So how do you keep these two straight? Just remember that if something complements something, it completes it.
