complicere

Complicere is a Latin verb meaning to entwine, to fold together, or, more broadly, to entangle or to complicate. In classical usage it covers both literal weaving and figurative sense, such as making a matter more intricate. The standard infinitive is complicāre, and the principal parts are complicō, complicāre, complicāvī, complicātum.

Etymology and forms: The word derives from com- “together” and plicāre “to fold” (from the plic- root meaning to fold). It is treated as a first-conjugation verb in most grammars, with present active forms such as complicō, complicās, complicat, complicāmus, complicātis, complicant; the imperfect complicābam, etc.; the perfect complicāvī, complicātum; and the passive forms such as complicor, complicāris, complicātur, complicāmur, complicāminī, complicantur.

Usage and meaning: Complicere can denote physically entwining objects, weaving, or entwining ropes. Figuratively, it can mean to complicate or to entangle a matter, to involve someone or something in a web of relations, or to render a situation more intricate. The noun complicatio (“an entanglement” or “a complication”) and the adjective complicātus (“entangled” or “complicated”) derive from the same root.

Derivatives and cognates: The Latin root appears in many Romance languages, such as complicare in Italian and Spanish, and complicer in some forms of French, with English borrowings in complicate and its derivatives. Related Latin terms include complicatio and complicātus, as well as the broader family built on plic- and plex- roots meaning to fold or weave.

See also: etymology of plic and related terms, and the English verb to complicate.