compliment

Pronunciation

• IPA: noun UK /ˈkɒm.plɪ.mənt/, US /ˈkɑːm.plə.mənt/; verb UK /ˈkɒm.plɪ.ment/, US /ˈkɑːm.plə.ment/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French compliment, from Italian complimento (“expression of respect”), from Spanish cumplimiento, from cumplir (“to fulfil, do what is fitting, be courteous”), from Latin compleō (“to fill up”),^[2][3][4] the notion being that which completes the duties of politeness.^[5] It was first written complement, after complēmentum (“that which completes”) (see complement), and took the French spelling gradually after about 1650.^[2][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A ceremonial act or expression of courtesy: 1578, as complement.^[2][7][5]

Semantic evolution

Johnson defined it as an act or expression of civility “usually understood to include some hypocrisy, and to mean less than it declares”.^[5] The sense of praise is hard to separate from the older sense of courtesy.^[2] Complimentary language is from 1654,^[7] a gift from 1722,^[7] and formal greetings, compliments, from 1733.^[7] The verb is from about 1612,^[7][5] and to show regard by a gift or favour from the 1690s.^[5] In Scots and Irish dialect a compliment was a present.^[8]

Timeline

• 1578 – complement, a courtesy.^[2]
• c. 1612 – to compliment (verb).^[7]
• c. 1650 – the spelling compliment.^[2]
• 1654 – praise.^[7]
• 1733 – compliments, greetings.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An expression of praise, admiration or congratulation.
2. A formal act of courtesy or respect.
3. In the plural, greetings or good wishes: with the compliments of the author.

Verb

1. To praise or congratulate.
2. To show regard for someone with a gift or favour.

Word family

• complimentable
• complimenter
• complimentingly
• complimentary
• outcompliment

Related words

• complement
• complete
• comply

Usage notes

Compliment and complement are doublets, from the same Latin source.^[2]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)