noun / verb

complement

KOM-plih-ment/kˈɑmplʌmʌnt/

Something that completes or improves another thing, or the act of doing so.

The pale wooden half complements the dark half, completing the heart.

Two complementary halves of a simple wooden heart puzzle join neatly along a curved seam, one dark wood and one pale wood; hands fit them together to form a whole.

Etymology

comLatinprobably adds emphasis

+pleLatinto fill

+mentLatinresult or means

With com- probably adding emphasis, the central image is filling something up. A complement is what supplies the missing element, making another thing whole rather than merely adding more of the same.

In context

ArtSpeaks Studio by Kay Byfield3:33

you have that boat which is orange which is the complement of all that blue and and that orange boat becomes the focal point

Gradation

More examples

Her practical skills complement his creative ideas.
The blue rug complements the room's warm wood floors.
These charts are a useful complement to the written instructions.

Forms

complement · complements · complemented · complementing

complementary adjective — Completing or enhancing something when combined.

Similar words

enhance: Emphasizes improving quality rather than completing or fitting together.
complete: Emphasizes supplying missing parts rather than simply improving something.
supplement: Adds something extra rather than necessarily forming a matching whole.