What does complecting mean?
Comprecting — more properly spelled complecting — is the present participle of the dialectal verb 'complect,' meaning to interweave, entwine, or interlace things so that they become closely connected. The word belongs mainly to Southern and Midland American speech, where it can describe anything from vines growing through a fence to ideas woven together in an argument. Its figurative use, for blending disparate elements into a unified whole, gives it some appeal to writers seeking a fresh alternative to more ordinary words like intertwining. Readers should take care not to confuse it with 'complected,' a familiar adjective in phrases such as 'dark-complected,' which instead relates to complexion and derives from the same Latin root but carries an entirely different sense. Because it is regionally marked rather than standard English, complecting is best reserved for informal contexts or deliberate stylistic effect.
verb (present participle)Interweaving or entwining things together; the act of intertwining or interlacing. In American dialect usage, 'complect' means to connect or weave together closely.
- To interweave, entwine, or interlace things together.
- (Figurative, rarer) To combine or blend elements closely into a unified whole.
"The vines were complecting along the old fence until the two plants became impossible to tell apart."
"She spent the afternoon complecting willow branches into a garden trellis."
"The novelist was praised for complecting past and present into a single seamless narrative."
If you've ever heard a Southerner talk about 'dark-complected' skin, you've met this word's family — 'complecting' itself means literally weaving things together.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of complecting
Complecting comes from the Latin verb complecti, formed from com- ('together') and plectere ('to plait, weave'), the same root that produced 'complex,' 'complexion,' and 'complete.' The verb entered English by way of the related forms 'complexion' and 'complection,' and survives chiefly as a regional Americanism. Its cousin 'complexion' originally meant the balance of bodily humors before shifting to mean facial appearance and, later, skin color.
How complecting is actually used
'Complect' and its forms are chiefly regional American English, common in Southern and Midland speech; in standard writing, 'intertwining' or 'interweaving' is preferred. It should not be confused with 'complected', which describes complexion.
Easily confused with complecting
'Complecting' is the verb meaning to interweave, while 'complected' is an adjective describing someone's skin tone, as in 'dark-complected'.
'Complicating' means making something more difficult or involved, whereas 'complecting' refers to physically or figuratively weaving things together.