Complemented

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To provide a corresponding addition that enhances or completes the quality of another, offering balance or harmony in a given context
2. To enhance another element by adding something that completes or improves its overall effect or aesthetic
3. To add something that fills out or improves an existing whole, making it more effective or attractive

Etymology: The past form "complemented" belongs to the verb "complement," which English took from the noun, and the noun came into Middle English from Latin "complēmentum," meaning "that which fills up or completes." That Latin noun grew from "compleō," "to fill up," a verb built from "con-," an intensifying prefix, and "pleō," "to fill." The same root sits behind "complete," which entered English directly from the same Latin verb. The word has a twin that most speakers would never guess. "Compliment" comes from the same Latin source, but it passed through a different route, so the two words are doublets: one meaning a filling-out or finishing touch, the other a polite praise. Their paths split early enough that they now look and sound like unrelated words. Here the verb is the simple past of "complement," so "complemented" simply describes the act of adding that finishing touch to something already in place. Its meaning follows directly from the noun's sense of completing what was lacking.

Synonyms: supplemented, enhanced