complementarity
noun/ˌkɒmpləmɛnˈtæɹɪti/ · /ˌkɒmpləmɛnˈtɛəɹɪti/
Etymology From complementary + -ity.
1
The state or characteristic of being complementary.
- "Synergy is one of the most overused words in the English language, but there is a tremendous complementarity to these organizations."1987 April 2, Kenneth N. Gilpin, “2 Forecasting Firms to Merge”, in New York Times, retrieved 01 Apr 2014:
2
Human sciences, Linguistics, Philosophy, Sciences, Semantics A semantic relationship between two words wherein negative use of one entails the affirmative of the other with no gradability; the relation of binary antonyms.
- For complementarity, there are entailments both from affirmative sentences to the corresponding negative sentences (which is what ordinary antonymy allows) and from negative sentences to the corresponding affirmative sentences. [...] That light is on entails That light is not off. That light is not on entails That light is off.2005, Andrew John Merrison, Aileen Bloomer, Patrick Griffiths, Christopher J. Hall, Introducing Language in Use, London: Routledge, →ISBN, page 112:
3
Human sciences, Philosophy, Sciences Of science The idea that physical phenomena may have (mutually contradictory) properties that cannot be observed simultaneously (e.g. wave-particle duality).
- Derived terms
- noncomplementarity