entangle

Entangle is a verb with several related senses. Literally, it means to twist or entwine something into a knot or mass, such as vines that entangle a fence or ropes that become snagged. More broadly, it is used metaphorically to describe involving someone or something in a complicated, problematic, or difficult situation, or to trap someone in procedural or legal entanglements. The noun form entanglement refers to the resulting condition or the act of entangling.

Etymology and usage notes: entangle derives from the English verb tangle, with the prefix en- meaning to cause to be or to put into a state. The root tangle refers to a knot or confused mass. In everyday language, entanglement often connotes becoming stuck or ensnared beyond easy resolution, whether in physical bindings, bureaucratic red tape, or social circumstances.

In science, entanglement has a specialized meaning in quantum physics. Quantum entanglement describes a situation in which the quantum states of two or more objects are linked so that the state of each cannot be described independently of the state of the others, even when the objects are separated by large distances. Entangled systems exhibit correlations that cannot be explained by classical, local means, a feature central to quantum information science and tests of quantum theory such as Bell experiments. The term is also used more loosely to discuss nonclassical correlations in other contexts, but its precise scientific usage refers to this nonlocal connection between parts of a system.

See also: entanglement, entangled state, knot, tangle.