Etymologically
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supplemental

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:28. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌsʌplɪˈmɛntəl/[1]
  • US: /ˌsʌpləˈmɛntəl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English supplement + -al,[2][3][4][5][6] the noun supplement in the OED and Etymonline,[2][3] the verb in the Shorter Oxford.[7] Supplement is from Middle French suppleement and Latin supplēmentum (“something added to make up a whole”),[2][3] from suppleō (“to fill up”).[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Serving as a supplement; additional: 1605, in Francis Bacon's Advancement of Learning.[2][4] Dictionary.com dates the adjective to 1595–1605.[5]

Semantic evolution

From the early 18th century the word was also used in mathematics as an equivalent of supplementary,[2] and in American law it describes an answer, bill or pleading filed to add to or correct an earlier one.[4][6] As a noun, a thing supplementary to another, it is recorded from 1643.[2] The OED notes that both adjective and noun are now chiefly American,[2][7] British English preferring supplementary.[7]

Timeline

  • 1595–1605 – the period Dictionary.com gives.[5]
  • 1605 – serving as a supplement, in Francis Bacon.[2][4]
  • 1643 – noun, a thing supplementary to another.[2]
  • 1701 – mathematics, supplementary; also the noun, a supplemental triangle (obsolete by 1723).[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Serving as a supplement; added to make up for a lack or to complete something; supplementary: The course comes with supplemental reading online.[4][2][3]
  2. (law) Of a pleading, bill or answer: filed in support of an earlier one, to correct a defect in it or to add new facts.[4][6]
  3. (mathematics) Of an angle or arc: forming a supplement.[2][7]

Noun

  1. (chiefly US) A supplementary thing, such as an additional budget appropriation.[4][2]

Word family

  • supplementally

Usage notes

Etymonline distinguishes the two adjectives: supplemental generally means added to supply what is wanting, while supplementary has historically leaned towards something added as secondary or extra.[3] Supplemental is now chiefly American.[2][7]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  7. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press