Compliment

How to spell compliment

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce compliment

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does compliment mean?

1. nounA remark or expression of admiration, praise, or approval directed at someone.

Compliment in a sentence

• She paid him a lovely compliment on his work.

• Thank you for the compliment, that's very kind.

• He gave her a sincere compliment.

• Receiving a compliment can make your whole day.

• A genuine compliment goes a long way.

Where does compliment come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes ultimately from the Latin complementum, meaning 'that which fills up or completes', built on complere, 'to fill up', from com- (an intensifying prefix) and plere, 'to fill'. In Italian this became complimento, used for the courteous acts that 'complete' a social exchange, the polite words and gestures expected between people. Spanish carried a similar cumplimiento, and French borrowed it as compliment before English took it up in the early 1600s. For centuries 'compliment' and 'complement' were spelled interchangeably, and only later did English split them, keeping the -i- spelling for an expression of praise and the -e- spelling (complement) for something that completes. That shared ancestor in plere, 'to fill', is exactly why the two words look so alike and trip writers up: a compliment fills someone with good feeling, while a complement fills out or completes a set.

How the word is built

• com-
• pli (fill)
• -ment