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Complementary vs Companion - What's the difference?

complementary | companion | Synonyms |

In obsolete terms the difference between complementary and companion

is that complementary is one skilled in compliments while companion is to qualify as a companion; to make equal.

As nouns the difference between complementary and companion

is that complementary is a complementary colour while companion is a friend, acquaintance, or partner; someone with whom one spends time or keeps company.

As an adjective complementary

is acting as a complement.

As a verb companion is

to be a companion to; to attend on; to accompany.

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)

    companion

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A friend, acquaintance, or partner; someone with whom one spends time or keeps company
  • His dog has been his trusted companion for the last five years.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Here are your sons again; and I must lose / Two of the sweetest companions in the world.
  • (dated) A person employed to accompany or travel with another.
  • (nautical) The framework on the quarterdeck of a sailing ship through which daylight entered the cabins below.
  • (nautical) The covering of a hatchway on an upper deck which leads to the companionway; the stairs themselves.
  • (topology) A knot in whose neighborhood another, specified knot meets every meridian disk.
  • (figuratively) A thing or phenomenon that is closely associated with another thing, phenomenon, or person.
  • (astronomy) A celestial object that is associated with another.
  • A knight of the lowest rank in certain orders.
  • a companion of the Bath
  • (obsolete, derogatory) A fellow; a rogue.
  • * 1599 , , III. i. 111:
  • and let us knog our / prains together to be revenge on this same scald, scurvy, / cogging companion ,

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * companionable, uncompanionable * companion hatch * companion ladder * companionship * companionway

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To be a companion to; to attend on; to accompany.
  • (Ruskin)
  • (obsolete) To qualify as a companion; to make equal.
  • * (rfdate) (William Shakespeare)
  • Companion me with my mistress.