komplementum

Komplementum is a term of Latin origin meaning “that which completes” and is used across disciplines to denote an element that completes or supplements another element. The overarching idea is a relationship of completion or enhancement, and the term appears in several fields with domain-specific nuances.

In linguistics, a complement is a phrase or clause that completes the meaning of a predicate. Examples include objects after action verbs, subject complements after linking verbs (as in “The winner is she”), and certain embedded clauses. Complements are distinguished from modifiers in that they are often required by the verb or adjective to complete the thought.

In mathematics and logic, the concept appears in several related forms. The complement of a subset A within a universal set U is the set of elements in U not in A (written U \ A). In logic, the negation of a proposition serves as its logical complement. In computer arithmetic, ones’ complement and twos’ complement describe binary representations used for signed integers.

In biology and chemistry, the term is also used to describe systems and interactions that enhance or complete a response. The complement system in immunology refers to a cascade of proteins that assists antibodies in promoting inflammation, opsonization, and lysis of pathogens. In genetics, complementarity describes how base pairing enables accurate replication and information transfer.