different between courtesy vs complementary

English

Etymology

From Middle English curtesie, from Anglo-Norman curtesie, from Old French curteisie, cortoisie.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k??t?si/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?k?t?si/
• Hyphenation: cour?te?sy

Noun

courtesy (countable and uncountable, plural courtesies)

1. (uncountable) Polite behavior.

2. (countable) A polite gesture or remark, especially as opposed to an obligation or standard practice.
3. (uncountable) Consent or agreement in spite of fact; indulgence.

4. (uncountable) Willingness or generosity in providing something needed.

   [on a label, caption, etc.] Courtesy the Smith Foundation: [e.g.] use of this image was allowed through the courtesy of the Smith Foundation.

5. A curtsey.
   • 1760, Oliver Goldsmith, The Citizen of the World

     The lady drops a courtesy in token of obedience, and the ceremony proceeds as usual.

6. (law) The life interest that the surviving husband has in the real or heritable estate of his wife.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

courtesy (third-person singular simple present courtesies, present participle courtesying, simple past and past participle courtesied)

1. Alternative form of curtsey
   • 1740, Samuel Richardson, Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded

     Well, but Polly attended, as I said; and there were strange simperings, and bowing, and courtesying, between them; the honest gentleman seeming not to know how to let his mistress wait upon him […]

Adjective

courtesy (not comparable) (used only before the noun)

1. Given or done as a polite gesture.

   We paid a courtesy visit to the new neighbors.

2. Supplied free of charge.

   Synonyms: complimentary, free of charge, gratis

   The event planners offered courtesy tickets for the reporters.

Translations

References

Anagrams

• cosurety, courtsey

English

Etymology

complement +? -ary

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k?mpl???m?nt(?)?i/
• (General American) enPR: k?m'pl?-m?n?t?-r?, -tr?, IPA^(key): /?k?mpl???m?nt(?)?i/
• Homophone: complimentary
• Rhymes: -?nt??i, -?nt?i
• Hyphenation: com?ple?men?ta?ry

Adjective

complementary (comparative more complementary, superlative most complementary)

1. Acting as a complement; making up a whole with something else.

   • Using the terminology we intro-
     duced earlier, we might then say that black and white squares are in comple-
     mentary distribution on a chess-board. By this we mean two things: firstly,
     black squares and white squares occupy different positions on the board: and
     secondly, the black and white squares complement each other in the sense that
     the black squares together with the white squares comprise the total set of 64
     squares found on the board (i.e. there is no square on the board which is not
     either black or white).

2. (genetics) Of the specific pairings of the bases in DNA and RNA.
3. (physics) Pertaining to pairs of properties in quantum mechanics that are inversely related to each other, such as speed and position, or energy and time. (See also Heisenberg uncertainty principle.)

Usage notes

• Complementary and complimentary are frequently confused and misused in place of one another.

Derived terms

Related terms

• complemental

Translations

Noun

complementary (plural complementaries)

1. A complementary colour.
2. (obsolete) One skilled in compliments.
3. An angle which adds with another to equal 90 degrees.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ben Jonson to this entry?)

Translations

Further reading

• complementary in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• complementary in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.