Complete

How to spell complete

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce complete

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does complete mean?

1. adjectiveHaving all the necessary or appropriate parts; whole and entire.
2. verbTo finish making or doing something.

Complete in a sentence

• adjective

  The report is now complete and ready to submit.

• verb

  The builders expect to complete the extension by spring.

• adjective

  The museum holds a complete set of the original drawings.

• verb

  Please complete the form before joining the queue.

Where does complete come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb complere, which meant 'to fill up' or 'to fill completely', built from the intensive prefix com- and the verb plere, meaning 'to fill'. Its past participle completus literally described something that had been fully filled, and from there the sense slid naturally toward 'finished' or 'whole'. English took the word in during the 1300s and 1400s through Old French complet, first as an adjective and soon as a verb. The same plere root quietly supplies a family of relatives in English, including 'replete', 'deplete', and even 'plenty', all of them circling the idea of fullness. Remembering that the middle is plere 'to fill' helps fix the single 'e' ending and the 'plet' spelling that some writers second-guess.

How the word is built

• com- (intensive: fully)
• plet (from Latin plere: to fill)
• -e