Complete, a. — Webster enters it under “complete”
Etymology: [L. completus, p. p. of complere to fill. See Full, a., and cf. Comply, Compline.]
1. Filled up; with no part or element lacking; free from deficienty; entire; perfect; consummate. "Complete perfections." Milton. Ye are complete in him. Col. ii. 10. That thou, dead corse, again in complete steel Revesit'st thus the glimpses of the moon. Shak.
2. Finished; ended; concluded; completed; as, the edifice is complete. This course of vanity almost complete. Prior.
3. (Bot.)
Having all the parts or organs which belong to it or to the typical form; having calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistil.
1 more senses
Syn. -- See Whole.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Complete, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Completed; p. pr. & vb. n. Completing.]
To bring to a state in which there is no deficiency; to perfect; to consummate; to accomplish; to fulfill; to finish; as, to complete a task, or a poem; to complete a course of education. Bred only and completed to the taste Of lustful appetence. Milton. And, to complete her bliss, a fool for mate. Pope.
Syn. -- To perform; execute; terminate; conclude; finish; end; fill up; achieve; realize; effect; consummate; accomplish; effectuate; fulfill; bring to pass.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for completed; he lists it under perfect.
Where he writes about it:
That ends, or is ended, of which there is no more, whether or not more was intended or needed; that is closed, completed, concluded, or finished which has come to an expected or appropriate end. — from end
A speech may be ended almost as soon as begun, because of the speaker's illness, or of tumult in the audience; in such a case, the speech is neither closed, completed, nor finished, nor, in the strict sense, concluded. — from end
Finish has come to mean, not merely to complete in the essentials, but to perfect in all the minute details, as in the expression "to add the finishing touches." The enumeration is completed; the poem, the picture, the statue is finished. — from end