Supplement

How to spell supplement

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce supplement

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does supplement mean?

1. nounSomething added to complete a thing or make up for a deficiency, such as an extra portion, payment, or section.
2. verbTo add to something in order to improve or complete it.

Supplement in a sentence

• noun

  The hotel charges a small supplement for a room with a sea view.

• verb

  He took a second job to supplement his modest pension.

• noun

  She takes a daily vitamin supplement with breakfast.

• verb

  Many farmers supplement winter grazing with stored hay.

Where does supplement come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Supplement comes from the Latin supplementum, meaning 'something added to fill up' or 'a filling up'. That noun was built on the verb supplere, formed from sub, meaning 'up from below' or 'in addition', and plere, meaning 'to fill'. The same plere root sits behind a whole family of everyday words such as 'complete', 'replete', and 'plenty', all carrying the idea of filling. English took the word in during the late 1300s, originally referring to something added to make good a deficiency. The spelling preserves the doubled p of the assimilated Latin prefix (sub became sup before the p of plere), and that double p is the main thing writers need to fix in memory.

How the word is built

• sub-/sup- (under, in addition)
• ple (from plere: to fill)
• -ment (noun/result suffix)