Dictionary.com

complementizer

[ kom-pluh-muhn-tahy-zer ]
/ ˈkɒm plə mənˌtaɪ zər /

noun Linguistics.

an element or elements marking a complement clause, as that in We thought that you forgot, for … to in For you to go all the way there would be silly, or possessive …-ing in Barbara's leaving so early worried them.

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Origin of complementizer

complement + -ize + -er1

Words nearby complementizer

complement clause, complemented, complement fixation, complement-fixation test, complement-fixing antibody, complementizer, complement protein, complement reaction, complement unit, complete, complete antibody
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

British Dictionary definitions for complementizer

complementizer
/ (ˈkɒmplɪmənˌtaɪzə) /

noun

generative grammar a word or morpheme that serves to introduce a complement clause or a reduced form of such a clause, as that in I wish that he would leave
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012