The word “complete”, which means something having all of its parts or components, has been around in English since the 1300s. It comes from the Latin word “complere,” which means “full.”
Back in the 1500s, “complete” had another meaning as well. When you used it in reference to a person, it meant highly accomplished, or a consummate example of a skill, a trade, or a role. For example: “Ye are complete in him which is the heed of all rule and power” (1526).
This explanation wouldn’t be (ahem) complete without mentioning another historical detail. “Complete” used to be spelled “compleat.” It was exactly the same word; just spelled differently. When Izaak Walton decided, in 1653, to write a book about fishing, he titled it “The Compleat Angler” because that was how you spelled “complete” at the time.
Walton was using “complete” — or “compleat” — in the sense of referring to a person of consummate skill. He evidently really loved fishing, because he kept adding to his book for 25 years. When he moved out of London in 1644, he even made sure to buy some property including a stretch of river where the fishing was reportedly excellent.
Lots of other people love fishing too — so many that Smithsonian magazine in 2017 called Walton’s book “one of the most reprinted English books ever.” It’s still being reprinted. And an odd thing has happened. Because Walton’s book still carries the obsolete spelling of “compleat,” and it uses an obsolete meaning of the word, according to some dictionaries “compleat” is now a different and separate word, meaning consummate ability. It’s in use in titles of other books, like “The Complete Imbiber” (about wine), and in prose: “Jamie realized that his father had become the compleat academic.” In short, now you need to know TWO words to be a compleat complete expert.
