English
complication
Complication comes from Latin complicatio ‘folding up’, from complicō ‘to fold or roll up or together’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to fold, plait, weave’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicō‘fold or lay together’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomplicō‘to fold or roll up or together’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomplicatioas complicatio‘folding up’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600complication
- Englishearliest quotation 1646complication
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to fold, plait, weave’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicō‘fold or lay together’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomplicō‘to fold or roll up or together’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomplicatioas complicatio‘folding up’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600complication
- Englishearliest quotation 1646complication
Earliest quotation: 1646, Thomas Browne: “the snaky complication in the Caduceus or rod of…”
Formed from complicate + -ion
Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’
Latin plicō ‘fold or lay together’
Latin complicō ‘to fold together, fold up’
Latin complicātus ‘folded up, complicated, complex’
English complicate
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’
exploitation, fiasco, flax, flack, plexus, replication, flagon, 36 more
through Latin plicō ‘fold or lay together’
apply, display, reply, employment, exploit, employ, explicit, deploy, imply, replica, ploy, ply, implicit, supple, inexplicable, pliable, implicate, splay, pliant, triplicate, supplication, explication, 24 more
through Latin complicō ‘to fold or roll up or together’
Today it means
noun The act or process of complicating.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- / complication