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Adjunct vs Complementary - What's the difference?

adjunct | complementary |

As nouns the difference between adjunct and complementary

is that adjunct is an appendage; something attached to something else in a subordinate capacity while complementary is a complementary colour.

As adjectives the difference between adjunct and complementary

is that adjunct is connected in a subordinate function while complementary is acting as a complement.

adjunct

Noun

(en noun)
  • An appendage; something attached to something else in a subordinate capacity.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Learning is but an adjunct to our self.
  • A person associated with another, usually in a subordinate position; a colleague.
  • (Wotton)
  • (grammar) A dispensable phrase in a clause or sentence that amplifies its meaning, such as "for a while" in "I typed for a while".
  • (rhetoric) Symploce.
  • (dated, metaphysics) A quality or property of the body or mind, whether natural or acquired, such as colour in the body or judgement in the mind.
  • (music) A key or scale closely related to another as principal; a relative or attendant key.
  • (syntax, X-bar theory) A constituent which is both the daughter and the sister of an X-bar.
  • *
  • We can see from (34) that Determiners are sisters of N-bar and daughters of
    N-double-bar; Adjuncts' are both sisters and daughters of N-bar; and Comple-
    ments are sisters of N and daughters of N-bar. This means that '''Adjuncts''' re-
    semble Complements in that both are daughters of N-bar; but they differ from
    Complements in that '''Adjuncts''' are sisters of N-bar, whereas Complements are
    sisters of N. Likewise, it means that '''Adjuncts''' resemble Determiners in that
    both are sisters of N-bar, but they differ from Determiners in that '
    Adjuncts

    are daughters of N-bar, whereas Determiners are daughters of N-double-bar.

    Derived terms

    * adjuncthood * adjunctive

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Connected in a subordinate function.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Though that my death were adjunct to my act.
  • Added to a faculty or staff in a secondary position.
  • complementary

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Acting as a complement.
  • *
  • Using the terminology we intro-
    duced earlier, we might then say that black and white squares are in comple-
    mentary
    distribution on a chess-board. By this we mean two things: firstly,
    black squares and white squares occupy different positions on the board: and
    secondly, the black and white squares complement each other in the sense that
    the black squares together with the white squares comprise the total set of 64
    squares found on the board (i.e. there is no square on the board which is not
    either black or white).
  • (genetics) Of the specific pairings of the bases in DNA and RNA.
  • (physics) Pertaining to pairs of properties in quantum mechanics that are inversely related to each other, such as speed and position, or energy and time. (See also Heisenberg uncertainty principle.)
  • Usage notes

    * Complementary and complimentary are frequently confused and misused in place of one another.

    Derived terms

    * complementarily * complementarity * complementary angle * complementary colour * complementary distribution

    Noun

    (complementaries)
  • A complementary colour.
  • (obsolete) One skilled in compliments.
  • (Ben Jonson)