supplement

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsʌp.lɪ.mənt/ (UK); /ˈsʌp.lə.mənt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English, from Old French supplement and directly borrowed from Latin supplēmentum (“that which fills up, something added to supply a deficiency”),^[2][3] from supplēre, to fill up, complete (see supply).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Something added to supply a deficiency: 1382 in the OED, about 1384 in the Wycliffe Bible in Barnhart.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The making good of a deficiency is from 1483,^[5] reinforcements of troops from before 1548,^[5] and a part added to complete a literary work from the 1560s (1568).^[3][5] In geometry an angle or arc that makes up 180 degrees is a supplement.^[6][7] The verb is from 1829.^[2][3] Supplemental is from 1605, in Bacon, and supplementary from 1667.^[2] A separate section or magazine inserted in a newspaper, and a dietary supplement, are modern uses.^[6][7]

Timeline

• 1382 – an addition.^[5]
• 1483 – the supplying of a want.^[5]
• 1568 – an addition to a book.^[5]
• 1605 – supplemental.^[2]
• 1829 – to supplement (verb).^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Something added to complete a thing, make up for a deficiency or strengthen the whole.
2. A section added to a book or document with further information or corrections.
3. A separate section or magazine inserted in a newspaper or periodical.
4. (geometry) An angle or arc that added to another makes 180 degrees.

Verb

1. To add a supplement to; to make up for a deficiency in.

Word family

• supplementarity
• supplementation
• supplementer
• unsupplemented
• dietary supplement

Related words

• supplemental
• supplementary
• complement
• suppletion
• suppletory
• supply
• plenty

Usage notes

A separate supplement, suppleness, was used in 1583.^[5] In Cheshire dialect, supplement was a corruption of sublimate.^[8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
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)