compliment

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Something nice you say to praise or admire someone.

   She paid me a lovely compliment about my cooking.

2. 2
   verb

   To say something nice to someone to praise or admire them.

   The professor complimented the student on her last paper.

3. 3
   noun

   Polite or flattering language said out of courtesy.

   His kind words were just a compliment and not entirely sincere.

Simplified etymology

Compliment, recorded from the mid-17th century, comes from Italian complimento, “fulfilment of the requirements of courtesy,” ultimately from the Latin family of complere, “to fill up, finish, or fulfil.”

Borrowed from French compliment, itself a borrowing of Italian complimento, which in turn is a borrowing from Spanish cumplimiento, from cumplir (“to comply, complete, do what is proper”) + -miento or Latin complēmentum. Doublet of complement. Displaced Old English ġeswǣsnes.

Topics

External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary