complicate
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin complicatus, past participle of complicare (“to fold together”), from com- (“together”) + plicare (“to fold, weave, knit”); see plaid, and compare complex.
Pronunciation
- Verb:
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈkɑmplɪkeɪt/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɒmplɪkeɪt/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Hyphenation: com‧pli‧cate
- Adjective:
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɒmplɪkət/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Verb
complicate (third-person singular simple present complicates, present participle complicating, simple past and past participle complicated)
- (transitive) To make complex; to modify so as to make something intricate or difficult.
- 1896, Arthur Edward Waite, “Chapter 14”, in Devil-Worship in France, or the Question of Lucifer:
- Let us, however, put aside for the moment the mendacities and forgeries which complicate the question of Lucifer, and let us approach Palladism from an altogether different side.
- (transitive) To involve in a convoluted matter.
- Don't complicate yourself in issues that are beyond the scope of your understanding.
- John has been complicated in the affair by new tapes that surfaced.
- The DA has made every effort to complicate me in the scandal.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
to combine intricately
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See also
Adjective
complicate (comparative more complicate, superlative most complicate)
- (obsolete) Intertwined.
- (now rare, poetic) Complex, complicated.
- 1745, Edward Young, Night-Thoughts, section I:
- How poor, how rich, how abject, how august, / How complicate, how wonderful, is Man!
Derived terms
- complicate fever
- complicateness (obsolete)
- complicately
Further reading
- “complicate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “complicate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Italian
Etymology 1
Adjective
complicate
Participle
complicate f pl
Etymology 2
Verb
complicate
- inflection of complicare:
Latin
Verb
complicāte
Spanish
Verb
complicate
- second-person singular voseo imperative of complicar combined with te
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