English
complex
Complex is borrowed from French complexe, from Latin complexus, past participle of complector ‘to entwine’ (com- + plectō).
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplectō‘to weave, braid’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomplector‘to entwine, encircle’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomplexuspast participle of complector
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcomplexe‘complex’
- Englishearliest quotation 1689complex
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplectō‘to weave, braid’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomplector‘to entwine, encircle’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomplexuspast participle of complector
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcomplexe‘complex’
- Englishearliest quotation 1689complex
Earliest quotation: 1689, London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt: “Ideas thus made up of several simple ones put…”
The story
May be analyzed as com- + -plex.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’
apply, display, reply, employment, explicit, exploitation, employ, deploy, replica, exploit, imply, fiasco, implicit, flax, ploy, flack, ply, inexplicable, accomplice, implicate, supple, supplication, pliable, triplicate, flagon, pliant, explication, splay, 37 more
through Latin plectō ‘to weave, braid’
Today it means
adj Made up of multiple parts; composite; not simple.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin plectō / complex