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.

Culminate vs Complete - What's the difference?

culminate | complete |

As verbs the difference between culminate and complete

is that culminate is (astronomy) of a heavenly body, to be at the highest point, reach its greatest altitude while complete is .

culminate

English

Verb

(culminat)
  • (astronomy) Of a heavenly body, to be at the highest point, reach its greatest altitude.
  • To reach the (physical) summit, highest point, peak etc.
  • * Milton
  • As when his beams at noon / Culminate from the equator.
  • * Dana
  • The reptile race culminated in the secondary era.
  • * Motley
  • The house of Burgundy was rapidly culminating .
  • To reach a climax; to come to the decisive point (especially as an end or conclusion).
  • Their messy breakup culminated in a restraining order.
    New York Times Mr. Bush has been marking the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11 with a series of speeches about terrorism that culminated with his televised address last night.
    The class will culminate with a rigorous examination.
  • To finalize, bring to a conclusion, form the climax of.
  • * 2010 , "By the skin of her teeth", The Economist , 7 Sep 2010:
  • The announcement by Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott in Canberra culminated more than a fortnight of intensive political horse-trading.

    Synonyms

    * peak

    complete

    English

    Alternative forms

    * compleat (archaic)

    Verb

    (complet)
  • To finish; to make done; to reach the end.
  • He completed the assignment on time.
  • To make whole or entire.
  • The last chapter completes the book nicely.

    Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . See

    Synonyms

    * accomplish * finish

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • With all parts included; with nothing missing; full.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April
  • , author= , title=Well-connected Brains , volume=100, issue=2, page=171 , magazine=(American Scientist) citation , passage=Creating a complete map of the human connectome would therefore be a monumental milestone but not the end of the journey to understanding how our brains work.}}
  • Finished; ended; concluded; completed.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=In the eyes of Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke the apotheosis of the Celebrity was complete . The people of Asquith were not only willing to attend the house-warming, but had been worked up to the pitch of eagerness. The Celebrity as a matter of course was master of ceremonies.}}
  • (Generic intensifier).
  • (analysis, Of a metric space) in which every Cauchy sequence converges.
  • (algebra, Of a lattice) in which every set with a lower bound has a greatest lower bound.
  • (math, Of a category) in which all small limits exist.
  • (logic, of a proof system of a formal system)   With respect to a given semantics, that any well-formed formula which is (semantically) valid must also be provable.Sainsbury, Mark [2001] Logical Forms : An Introduction to Philosophical Logic . Blackwell Publishing, Hong Kong (2010), p. 358.
  • * Gödel's first incompleteness theorem showed that Principia'' could not be both consistent and complete. According to the theorem, for every sufficiently powerful logical system (such as ''Principia''), there exists a statement ''G'' that essentially reads, "The statement ''G'' cannot be proved." Such a statement is a sort of Catch-22: if ''G'' is provable, then it is false, and the system is therefore inconsistent; and if ''G is not provable, then it is true, and the system is therefore incomplete.(w)
  • Synonyms

    * (with everything included) entire, total * (finished) done

    Antonyms

    * incomplete

    Derived terms

    * bicomplete * cocomplete * completeness * completist * completely * completion

    References

    Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words ----