complex
Noun · AdjectiveOpen English WordNet
Adjective (2)
- complicated in structure; consisting of interconnected parts“a complex set of variations based on a simple folk melody”“a complex mass of diverse laws and customs”Opposite simpleSimilar complicated, intricate, interlacing, Byzantine, composite, colonial, thickening, multifactorial +6 moreRelates to complexity, complexnessSee also difficult, compound
- difficult to analyze or understand“a complicated problem”“complicated Middle East politics”“he's more complex than he seems on the surface”Synonyms: complicatedOpposite simple
Noun (4)complexes
- a conceptual whole made up of complicated and related parts“the complex of shopping malls, houses, and roads created a new town”Synonyms: compositeType of wholeKinds syndrome, hybrid
- a compound described in terms of the central atom to which other atoms are bound or coordinatedSynonyms: coordination compoundType of compound, chemical compoundKinds hydrochloride
- (psychoanalysis) a combination of emotions and impulses that have been rejected from awareness but still influence a person's behaviorType of feelingKinds inferiority complex, Electra complex, Oedipus complex
- a whole structure (as a building) made up of interconnected or related structuresSynonyms: building complexType of structure, constructionKinds plant, ribbon development, college
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Adjective not simple or straightforward
- Spanish
- complejo
- French
- complexe
- German
- kompliziert
- Italian
- complicato
- Portuguese
- complexo
- Turkish
- karmaşık
- Russian
- сло́жный slóžnyj
- Arabic
- مُعَقَّد muʕaqqad
- Chinese
- 复杂 fùzá
- Japanese
- 複雑 fukuzatsu
21 more languages
- Dutch
- complex
- Polish
- skomplikowany
- Swedish
- komplex
- Greek
- πολύπλοκος polýplokos
- Korean
- 복잡하다 bokjaphada
- Indonesian
- rumit
- Vietnamese
- phức tạp
- Hungarian
- bonyolult
- Portuguese (PT)
- complexo
- Chinese (Trad.)
- 複雜 fùzá
- Catalan
- complex
- Czech
- komplikovaný
- Esperanto
- kompleksa
- Finnish
- monimutkainen
- Georgian
- რთული rtuli
- Hebrew
- מורכב murkav
- Kurdish
- aloz
- Norwegian
- komplisert
- Romanian
- complex
- Scottish Gaelic
- co-thoinnte
- Serbo-Croatian
- složen
Adjective in mathematics
- Spanish
- complejo
- French
- complexe
- German
- komplex
- Italian
- complesso
- Portuguese
- complexo
- Turkish
- karmaşık
- Russian
- ко́мплексный kómpleksnyj
- Dutch
- complex
- Polish
- zespolony
- Swedish
- komplex
14 more languages
- Greek
- μιγαδικός migadikós
- Vietnamese
- phức
- Hungarian
- komplex
- Portuguese (PT)
- complexo
- Catalan
- complex
- Czech
- komplexní
- Danish
- kompleks
- Esperanto
- kompleksa
- Estonian
- kompleksne
- Finnish
- monimutkainen
- Georgian
- კომპლექსური ḳomṗleksuri
- Norwegian
- kompleks
- Romanian
- complex
- Welsh
- cymhlyg
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: L. complexus, p. p. of complecti to entwine around, comprise; com- + plectere to twist, akin to plicare to fold. See Plait, noun
1. Composed of two or more parts; composite; not simple; as, a complex being; a complex idea.
Ideas thus made up of several simple ones put together, I call complex; such as beauty, gratitude, a man, an army, the universe.— John Locke
2. Involving many parts; complicated; intricate.
When the actual motions of the heavens are calculated in the best possible way, the process is difficult and complex.— William Whewell
Complex fraction. See Fraction. — Complex number Mathematics, in the theory of numbers, an expression of the form a + b√-1, when a and b are ordinary integers.
Synonyms: See Intricate.
Origin: L. complexus
Assemblage of related things; collection; complication.
This parable of the wedding supper comprehends in it the whole complex of all the blessings and privileges exhibited by the gospel.— Robert South
Complex of lines Geometry, all the possible straight lines in space being considered, the entire system of lines which satisfy a single relation constitute a complex; as, all the lines which meet a given curve make up a complex. The lines which satisfy two relations constitute a congruency of lines; as, the entire system of lines, each one of which meets two given surfaces, is a congruency.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54