English
complicity
Complicity comes from French complicité ‘complicity, involvement’, from Old French complice ‘accomplice’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’.
- 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‘fold together’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcomplex‘partner, confederate’
- Late Latin, derivedc. 200–600 CEcomplic-stem of complex
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400complice‘accomplice’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcomplicité‘complicity, involvement’
- Englishearliest quotation 1854complicity
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‘fold together’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcomplex‘partner, confederate’
- Late Latin, derivedc. 200–600 CEcomplic-stem of complex
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400complice‘accomplice’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcomplicité‘complicity, involvement’
- Englishearliest quotation 1854complicity
Earliest quotation: 1854, Charles Dickens: “He drew up a placard, offering Twenty Pounds reward…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’
fiasco, flax, replication, flack, plexus, flagon, 36 more
through Latin plicō ‘fold or lay together’
apply, display, reply, employment, employ, exploitation, deploy, exploit, imply, explicit, replica, ploy, ply, inexplicable, supple, implicit, pliable, implicate, supplication, triplicate, splay, pliant, explication, 23 more
through Old French complice ‘accomplice’
Today it means
noun The state of being complicit; involvement as a partner or accomplice, especially in a crime or other wrongdoing.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- / complicity