What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Complement vs Accent - What's the difference?

complement | accent | Related terms |

Complement is a related term of accent.


As nouns the difference between complement and accent

is that complement is complement, thing added that makes a whole while accent is (linguistics) a higher-pitched or stronger articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it.

As a verb accent is

to express the accent of vocally; to utter with accent.

complement

Noun

(en noun)
  • *:
  • perform all those works of mercy, which Clemens Alexandrinus calls amoris et amicitiæ impletionem et extentionem , the extent and complement of love.
  • (obsolete) The act of completing something, or the fact of being complete; completion, completeness, fulfilment.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.5:
  • And both encreast the prayse of woman kynde, / And both encreast her beautie excellent: / So all did make in her a perfect complement .
  • The totality, the full amount or number which completes something.
  • * 1851 , (Herman Melville), Moby-Dick :
  • Queequeg sought a passage to Christian lands. But the ship, having her full complement of seamen, spurned his suit; and not all the King his father's influence could prevail.
  • * 2009 , The Guardian , 30 October:
  • Some 11 members of Somerton council's complement of 15 stepped down on Tuesday.
  • (obsolete) Something which completes one's equipment, dress etc.; an accessory.
  • * 1591 , (Edmund Spenser), “The Teares of the Muses [The Tears of the Muses]: Polyhymnia”:
  • *:A doleful case desires a doleful song,
  • *:Without vain art or curious complements.
  • *c. 1599 , (William Shakespeare), , Act 2, Scene 2:
  • *:Garnish'd and deck'd in modest complement,
  • *, I.42:
  • *:A man should be judged by himselfe, and not by his complements .
  • (nautical) The whole working force of a vessel.
  • (heraldry) Fullness (of the moon).
  • * 1912 , Allen Phoebe, Peeps at Heraldry , p.33:
  • The sixth Bishop of Ely had very curious arms, for he bore both sun and moon on his shield, the sun "in his splendour" and the moon "in her complement ".
  • (astronomy, geometry) An angle which, together with a given angle, makes a right angle.
  • Something which completes, something which combines with something else to make up a complete whole; loosely, something perceived to be a harmonious or desirable partner or addition.
  • * Sir J. Stephen
  • History is the complement of poetry.
  • * 2009 , The Guardian , 13 December:
  • London's Kings Place, now one year old, established itself as a venue for imaginative programming, a complement to the evergreen Wigmore Hall.
  • (grammar) A word or group of words that completes a grammatical construction in the predicate and that describes or is identified with the subject or object.
  • *
  • Why has our grammar broken down at this point? It is not difficult to see why. For, we have failed to make any provision for the fact that only some'' Verbs in English (i.e. Verbs like those italicized in (5) (a), traditionally called ''Transitive Verbs'') subcategorize ( = ‘take?) an immediately following NP Complement , whereas others (such as those italicised in (5) (b), traditionally referred to as ''Intransitive Verbs ) do not.
  • (music) An interval which, together with the given interval, makes an octave.
  • (optics) The color which, when mixed with the given color, gives black (for mixing pigments) or white (for mixing light).
  • The complement of blue is orange.
  • (set theory) Given two sets, the set containing one set's elements that are not members of the other set (whether a relative complement or an absolute complement).
  • The complement of the odd numbers is the even numbers, relative to the natural numbers.
  • (immunology) One of several blood proteins that work with antibodies during an immune response.
  • (logic) An expression related to some other expression such that it is true under the same conditions that make other false, and vice versa.
  • (electronics) A voltage level with the opposite logical sense to the given one.
  • (computing) A bit with the opposite value to the given one; the logical complement of a number.
  • (computing, mathematics) The diminished radix complement of a number; the nines' complement of a decimal number; the ones' complement of a binary number.
  • The complement of 01100101_2 is 10011010_2.
  • (computing, mathematics) The radix complement of a number; the two's complement of a binary number.
  • The complement of 01100101_2 is 10011011_2.
  • (computing, mathematics) The numeric complement of a number.
  • The complement of -123 is 123.
  • (genetics) A nucleotide sequence in which each base is replaced by the complementary base of the given sequence: adenine (A) by thymine (T) or uracil (U), cytosine (C) by guanine (G), and vice versa.
  • A DNA molecule is formed from two strands, each of which is the complement of the other.
  • (Shakespeare)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To complete, to bring to perfection, to make whole.
  • We believe your addition will complement the team.
  • To provide what the partner lacks and lack what the partner provides.
  • The flavors of the pepper and garlic complement each other, giving a very rich taste in combination.
    I believe our talents really complement each other.
  • To change a voltage, number, color, etc. to its complement.
  • See also

    * compliment * invert * inversion * negate * negation * supplement

    References

    * DeLone et. al. (Eds.) (1975). Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music . Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0130493465.

    accent

    English

    (wikipedia accent)

    Etymology 1

    First attested in the late 14th century. (The "decorative" sense is first attested in 1972.) From (etyl) accent, from (etyl) acent, from (etyl) accentus, formed from ad + with a vowel change.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (linguistics) A higher-pitched or stronger articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it.
  • In the word "careful", the accent is placed on the first syllable.
  • (figuratively) Emphasis or importance in general.
  • At this hotel, the accent is on luxury.
  • (orthography) A mark or character used in writing, in order to indicate the place of the spoken accent, or to indicate the nature or quality of the vowel marked.
  • The name Cézanne is written with an acute accent .
  • (senseid) Modulation of the voice in speaking; the manner of speaking or pronouncing; a peculiar or characteristic modification of the voice, expressing emotion; tone.
  • * 1608 , , II-ii
  • I know, sir, I am no flatterer: he that beguiled you in a plain accent was a plain knave; which for my part I will not be, though I should win your displeasure to entreat me to 't.
  • * 1696 , , "From Celia to Damon", in Poems on Several Occasions
  • The tender Accent of a Woman's Cry / Will pass unheard, will unregarded die;
  • (linguistics) The distinctive manner of pronouncing a language associated with a particular region, social group, etc., whether of a native speaker or a foreign speaker; the phonetic and phonological aspects of a dialect.
  • a foreign accent'''; an American, British or Australian '''accent
  • A word; a significant tone or sound.
  • (usually, plural only) Expressions in general; speech.
  • * Dryden
  • Winds! on your wings to Heaven her accents bear, / Such words as Heaven alone is fit to hear.
  • (prosody, poetry) Stress laid on certain syllables of a verse.
  • (music) A regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the measure.
  • (music) A special emphasis of a tone, even in the weaker part of the measure.
  • (music) The rhythmical accent, which marks phrases and sections of a period.
  • (music) The expressive emphasis and shading of a passage.
  • (music) A mark used to represent specific stress on a note.
  • (mathematics) A mark placed at the right hand of a letter, and a little above it, to distinguish magnitudes of a similar kind expressed by the same letter, but differing in value, as y'', '''y .
  • (geometry) A mark at the right hand of a number, indicating minutes of a degree, seconds, etc., as in 12' 27'' , meaning twelve minutes and twenty-seven seconds.
  • (engineering) A mark used to denote feet and inches, as in 6' 10'' , meaning six feet ten inches.
  • Emphasis laid on a part of an artistic design or composition; an emphasized detail, in particular a detail in sharp contrast to its surroundings.
  • A very small gemstone set into a piece of jewellery.
  • A distinctive feature or quality.
  • (archaic) Utterance.
  • Derived terms
    * accent mark * acute accent * grave accent * primary accent * secondary accent * tonic accent

    See also

    * circumflex

    References

    * “ Accent, sb.'']” on pages 50–51 of § 1 (A) of volume I (A–B, ed. ?, 1888) of ''[[w:Oxford English Dictionary, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles] (1st ed.) * “ accent, n.''” in the ''Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., 1989)

    Etymology 2

    From the (etyl) (m), from the (etyl) (m), from the (etyl) , from (m), whence the (etyl) noun (m).

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To express the accent of vocally; to utter with accent.
  • To mark emphatically; to emphasize; to accentuate; to make prominent.
  • To mark with written accents.
  • References

    * “ Accent, v.'']” on page 51/3 of § 1 (A) of volume I (A–B, ed. ?, 1888) of ''[[w:Oxford English Dictionary, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles] (1st ed.) * “ accent, v.''” in the ''Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., 1989) ----