compliment

Etymology

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”). Doublet of complement. Displaced Old English ġeswǣsnes.

noun

1. An expression of praise, congratulation, or respect.
   pay someone a compliment
   Virtue indeed meets many a rhiming friend, 1782, William Cowper, “Table Talk”, in Poems, London: J. Johnson, page 37
2. (uncountable) Complimentary language; courtesy, flattery.
   He told the Captain, He was heartily sorry for his Misfortunes; tho’ in my Opinion that was nothing but a Compliment: For, as I found afterwards, he was more brutish, and dishonest, than most of the other Kings on the Island […] 1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, page 25
3. Misspelling of complement.

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) To pay a compliment (to someone); to express a favourable opinion (of someone).
2. Misspelling of complement.