complementares

Complementares is the plural form of the Portuguese adjective complementar, used to describe things that complete, supplement, or complete a pair or system. In everyday and scholarly language, it appears in a variety of fields, often in compound terms such as disciplinas complementares or atividades complementares, where it signals additional or supplementary components.

In education, disciplinas complementares define courses chosen to broaden or deepen the core curriculum, while atividades complementares refer to activities outside the standard program (such as internships, research projects, or community service) that are recognized as part of a degree requirements in some institutions. The exact interpretation can vary by country and institution, but the common idea is expansion beyond the primary syllabus.

In mathematics and probability, complementares designates the concept of a complement. A set is complementares with respect to a universal set if it contains all elements not in another set; two events are complementares if they are mutually exclusive and together cover the entire sample space. These notions underpin many proofs and calculations, such as probabilities: P(A) + P(Ac) = 1.

In design and art, cores complementares (complementary colors) are pairs of colors opposite each other on the color wheel, providing high contrast and visual emphasis when used together.

Across contexts, the term signals relationship by which one element completes or balances another, forming a broader or more complete whole.