ChatterBank0 min ago
Complimentary
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I wonder how the word "compliment", meaning praise, developed into "complimentary" meaning something given for no charge.
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The verb, to compliment, in the 1600s meant to treat ceremoniously or with formal courteously, but quickly took on the meaning of praise as there is not a big step between the two forms of behaviour.
As the giving of gifts is frequently an element of ceremonious occasions - eg visiting heads of state are always handed something or other - the adjective, complimentary, had become used to mean 'free' in the sense of tickets etc by the 19th century.
As the giving of gifts is frequently an element of ceremonious occasions - eg visiting heads of state are always handed something or other - the adjective, complimentary, had become used to mean 'free' in the sense of tickets etc by the 19th century.
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