complexion

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The natural colour and look of the skin on a person's face.

   She has a fair complexion that burns easily in the sun.

2. 2
   noun

   The general nature or character of something.

   One late goal completely changed the complexion of the match.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Complexion entered Middle English through Old French from Latin complectere, “to embrace” or “comprise.” It originally referred to a person’s physical constitution or temperament, once believed to be determined by a combination of the four bodily humours. In the late 16th century it acquired the sense “the natural colour and texture of a person’s skin,” regarded as a visible sign of that temperament.

From Middle English complexion (“temperament”), from Old French complexion (French complexion), from Medieval Latin complexiō (“complexion, constitution”), from complector, past participle complexus (“to entwine, encompass”).

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