complementation

[ kom-pluh-muhn-tey-shuhn ]

noun

1. complementary distribution.
2. Genetics. the occurrence of a wild-type phenotype when two closely related, interacting mutant genes are expressed in the same cell.
3. Grammar.
   1. complement ( def 6 ).
   2. the use of grammatical complements.
4. cooperation in lowering tariffs to permit the movement of components among different countries when it is more profitable for each country to produce parts of a product than the whole.

Word History and Origins

Origin of complementation¹

First recorded in 1935–40; complement + -ation

Example Sentences

First, biologists have yet to actually develop a living creature with sperm made from this particular type of stem cell propagation, blastocyst complementation.

From Popular-Science

Contradictions must be annulled by complementation, with resultant increasing coherence in ascending stages.

From Project Gutenberg