English
imply
Imply comes from Latin implicare ‘to infold, involve’, from plicō ‘to fold’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to plait, to weave’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to plait, to weave’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicōas plicare‘to fold’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEimplicare‘to infold, involve’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400emplier
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500implien
- Englishearliest quotation 1590imply
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to plait, to weave’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicōas plicare‘to fold’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEimplicare‘to infold, involve’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400emplier
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500implien
- Englishearliest quotation 1590imply
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto IV: “And in his bosome secretly there lay / An…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to plait, to weave’
complex, fiasco, replication, flax, flack, plexus, flagon, 33 more
through Latin plicō ‘to fold’
display, apply, employment, reply, explicit, exploitation, exploit, deploy, replica, employ, complication, inexplicable, complicate, ploy, accomplice, implicit, complicity, supple, pliable, ply, supplication, implicate, triplicate, explication, pliant, splay, 21 more
Today it means
verb To have as a necessary consequence; to lead to (something) as a consequence.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- / imply