complex

From French complexe, from Latin complexus, past participle of complector (“I entwine, encircle, compass, infold”), from com- (“together”) and plectere (“to weave, braid”). May be analyzed as com- +‎ -plex. See complect. Doublet of complexus.

Adjective

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒm.plɛks/, /kəmˈplɛks/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) enPR: kəmplĕks, kŏm'plĕks; IPA^(key): /kɑmˈplɛks/, /kəmˈplɛks/, /ˈkɑmplɛks/

• Audio (US) (/kəmˈplɛks/)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛks

Noun

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒm.plɛks/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) enPR: kŏm'plĕks, IPA^(key): /ˈkɑmplɛks/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

complex (comparative complexer or more complex, superlative complexest or most complex)

1. Made up of multiple parts; composite; not simple.

   a complex being; a complex idea

   • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 2, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book I, page 12:

     Ideas thus made up of several simple ones put together, I call complex; such as beauty, gratitude, a man, an army, the universe.

2. Not simple, easy, or straightforward; complicated.
   • 1837, William Whewell, “Inductive Epoch of Hipparchus”, in History of the Inductive Sciences, from the Earliest to the Present Times. […], volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […]; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: J. and J. J. Deighton, →OCLC, book III (History of Greek Astronomy), section 2 (Estimate of the Value of the Theory of Eccentrics and Epicycles), page 183:

     If, when the actual motions of the heavens are calculated in the best possible way, the process is complex and difficult, and if we are discontented at this, nature, and not the astronomer, must be the object of our displeasure.

3. (mathematics, of a number) Having the form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is (by definition) the imaginary square root of −1.

   complex number

   function of a complex variable

4. (mathematics, mathematical analysis, of a function) Whose range is a subset of the complex numbers.

   complex function

5. (mathematics, algebra) Whose coefficients are complex numbers; defined over the field of complex numbers.

   complex polynomial

   complex algebraic variety

6. (geometry) A curve, polygon or other figure that crosses or intersects itself.

• (not simple): complicated, detailed, difficult, hard, intricate, involved, tough

• (antonym(s) of “not simple”): basic, easy, simple, simplex, straightforward

• complexion
• (mathematics): symplectic

complex (plural complexes)

1. A problem. (clarification of this definition is needed)
2. A network of interconnected systems.

   military-industrial complex

3. A collection of buildings with a common purpose, such as a university or military base.
   • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Protheans: Mars Ruins Codex entry:

     The south polar region of Promethei Planum developed a Bermuda Triangle reputation. Satellites detected intermittent mass concentrations and magnetic field shifts. In 2148, prospectors working near Deseado Crater discovered an underground complex: a Prothean observation post. The odd phenomena were generated by the operation and discharge of a mass effect core, struggling to function despite fifty millennia of neglect.

   • 2021 February 6, The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, page 4, column 1:

     A man at the complex said he had seen the often heavily made-up girls coming and going in luxury vehicles.

4. An assemblage of related things; a collection.
   • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, 6th edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] J[ames] Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1727, →OCLC:

     This parable of the wedding supper comprehends in it the whole complex of all the blessings and privileges exhibited by the gospel.

   1. An organized cluster of thunderstorms.
   2. A cluster of wildfires burning in the same vicinity.

      The fire complex began as two separate fires.

      • 2020 September 16, “Millions of acres burn in California as weather improves in Northwest.”, in The New York Times, retrieved September 16, 2020:

        As of early Wednesday, there were at least 25 major wildfires and fire complexes, the term given to multiple fires in a single geographic area, burning in California, Christine McMorrow, a Cal Fire information officer, said.

   3. (taxonomy) A group of closely related species, often distinguished only with difficulty by traditional morphological methods.
      • 2015 November 26, Mosè Manni et al., “Relevant genetic differentiation among Brazilian populations of Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera, Tephritidae)”, in ZooKeys, volume 540, →DOI:

        Since then, a good deal of research has documented and concluded that the nominal species A. fraterculus actually comprises an unresolved complex of cryptic species.

5. (psychoanalysis) A collection of ideas caused by repressed emotions that leads to an abnormal mental condition

   Synonym: constellation

6. (informal, by extension) A vehement, often excessive psychological dislike or fear of a particular thing.

   Jim has a real complex about working for a woman boss.

7. (chemistry) A structure consisting of a central atom or molecule weakly connected to surrounding atoms or molecules, as for example coordination complexes in inorganic chemistry and protein complexes in biochemistry.
   • 2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist:

     Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: […] . The evolutionary precursor of photosynthesis is still under debate, and a new study sheds light. The critical component of the photosynthetic system is the “water-oxidizing complex”, made up of manganese atoms and a calcium atom.

8. (mathematics) A complex number.
   • 1996, Barry Simon, Representations of Finite and Compact Groups, page 50:

     The interesting aspect here is that U₃ is irreducible, even though all irreps over the complexes are one-dimensional because ℤ₄ is abelian.

9. (linguistics) A multimorphemic word, one with several parts, one with affixes.

complex (third-person singular simple present complexes, present participle complexing, simple past and past participle complexed)

1. (chemistry, intransitive) To form a complex with another substance
2. (transitive) To complicate.

• complex compound
• neotenic complex syndrome

• “complex”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “complex”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “complex”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Borrowed from Latin complexus.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [kumˈplɛks]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencian) [komˈplɛks]

complex (feminine complexa, masculine plural complexos, feminine plural complexes)

1. complex (made up of multiple parts; composite; not simple)

   Synonym: compost

   Antonyms: simple, senzill

2. complex (complicated, not simple, easy or straightforward)

   Synonyms: complicat, embolicat

   Antonyms: simple, senzill

• nombre complex

• complexitat

complex m (plural complexos)

1. collection (a set of things or parts related to each other)
2. complex (e.g. of buildings)
3. (psychoanalysis, psychology, chemistry) complex
4. (mathematics) complex number, complex

• “complex” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “complex”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “complex” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “complex” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Borrowed from French complexe or German komplex, from Latin complexus.

• IPA^(key): /kɔmˈplɛks/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: com‧plex
• Rhymes: -ɛks

complex (comparative complexer, superlative meest complex or complext)

1. complex (composite)
2. complex (complicated)
3. (mathematics) complex (containing an imaginary component or involving imaginary numbers)

• complex getal
• complexiteit

• → Indonesian: kompleks

complex n (plural complexen, diminutive complexje n)

1. complex (collection of buildings or facilities with a common purpose)
2. (psychoanalysis) complex (abnormal mental state caused by repression)

• gebouwencomplex
• inferioriteitscomplex
• meerderwaarigheidscomplex
• minderwaardigheidscomplex
• sportcomplex
• superioriteitscomplex
• tempelcomplex

• complicatie
• gecompliceerd

• → Indonesian: kompleks

From con- +‎ plicō.

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkom.pleks/, [ˈkɔmpɫ̪ɛks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkom.pleks/, [ˈkɔmpleks]

complex (genitive complicis); third-declension one-termination adjective

1. closely connected, confederate, participant
2. of the twelve Olympians (Jūnō, Vesta, Minerva, Cerēs, Dīana, Venus, Mārs, Mercurius, Jūpiter, Neptūnus, Vulcānus, Apollō)

   Synonym: cōnsēns

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

1. No direct connection to the English adjective complex, which is from Latin complexus with an etymologically related, yet different stem.
2. The twelve Olympians were also called dī complicēs.

complex m or f (genitive complicis); third declension

1. participant, confederate, accomplice

Third-declension noun.

• Italian: complice
• Spanish: cómplice
• Portuguese: cúmplice
• French: complice
• → German: Komplize
• → Romanian: complice
• → English: complice
  • English: accomplice

• “complex”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• complices in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• complex in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Borrowed from French complexe, from Latin complexus.

• IPA^(key): [komˈpleks]

complex m or n (feminine singular complexă, masculine plural complecși, feminine and neuter plural complexe)

1. complex

   Antonym: simplu

• complexitate

• complex in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)