compl_ment: complament

[hermeneut]

Does anybody really distinguish between compliment and complement? They're phonologically identical in most cases, and their semantic difference seems superficial. A complement brings perfection or completion to that which it complements. A compliment brings praise, respect, or congratulations to that which it compliments. Aren't both of these senses fairly synonymous? at least insofar as they both point toward an act of giving oneself to another, completing the grace of the other. And aren't both of these senses the same as the simple act of mourning for the other, with the other: comp-lamenting?

There is an interference of reference....