What is the difference between supplementary and complementary?
supplementary | complementary |
Acting as a complement.
*
(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.)
A complementary colour.
(obsolete) One skilled in compliments.
As adjectives the difference between supplementary and complementary
is that supplementary is additional; added to supply what is wanted while complementary is acting as a complement.As a noun complementary is
a complementary colour.complementary
English
(wikipedia complementary)Adjective
(en adjective)- 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).
Usage notes
* Complementary and complimentary are frequently confused and misused in place of one another.Derived terms
* complementarily * complementarity * complementary angle * complementary colour * complementary distributionNoun
(complementaries)- (Ben Jonson)