complicate

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)

1. (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.

2. (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

• (involve in a convoluted matter): intricate, entangle, embroil, mix up (in something), mire

Related terms

• complication
• explicate

Translations

to combine intricately

• Arabic: تَعَقَّدَ (taʕaqqada), عَقَّدَ (ar) (ʕaqqada)
• Armenian: բարդացնել (hy) (bardacʻnel)
• Asturian: complicar
• Bulgarian: усложня́вам (bg) (usložnjávam)
• Catalan: complicar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 弄複雜／弄复杂 (nòng fùzá), 複雜化／复杂化 (zh) (fùzáhuà)

• Czech: komplikovat
• Danish: komplicere
• Dutch: compliceren (nl)
• Esperanto: kompliki (eo)
• French: compliquer (fr)
• Georgian: გაართულებს (gaartulebs)
• German: komplizieren (de)
• Hebrew: סיבך (sibékh)
• Hungarian: bonyolít (hu), komplikál (hu)
• Italian: complicare (it)
• Japanese: 複雑にする (fukuzatsu ni suru)
• Latvian: komplicēt, sarežģīt
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: komplisere

• Polish: komplikować (pl) impf, skomplikować pf
• Portuguese: complicar (pt)
• Romanian: complica (ro)
• Russian: усложня́ть (ru) impf (usložnjátʹ), усложни́ть (ru) pf (usložnítʹ), осложня́ть (ru) impf (osložnjátʹ), осложни́ть (ru) pf (osložnítʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: cuir tro-chèile
• Spanish: complicar (es)
• Swedish: komplicera (sv)
• Ukrainian: ускла́днювати impf (uskládnjuvaty), ускладни́ти pf (uskladnýty)
• Vietnamese: làm phức tạp

See also

• complex

Adjective

complicate (comparative more complicate, superlative most complicate)

1. (obsolete) Intertwined.
2. (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

• complicateness (obsolete)

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

1. feminine plural of complicato

Participle

complicate f pl

1. feminine plural of complicato

Etymology 2

Verb

complicate

1. inflection of complicare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Latin

Verb

complicāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of complicō

Spanish

Verb

complicate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of complicar combined with te