English
intrigue
Intrigue comes from Latin intrīcō ‘to entangle, perplex, embarrass’, and goes back to trīcae ‘trifles’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrīcae‘trifles’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintrīcō‘to entangle, perplex, embarrass’
- Italianc. 1300–presentintricare
- Frenchc. 1600–presentintrigue
- Englishearliest quotation 1533same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrīcae‘trifles’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintrīcō‘to entangle, perplex, embarrass’
- Italianc. 1300–presentintricare
- Frenchc. 1600–presentintrigue
- Englishearliest quotation 1533same form
Earliest quotation: 1533, Thomas More, The Debellacyon of Salem and Bizance […]. Chapter XVIJ.: “And as wililye as thoſe ſhrewes that beguyle hym…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ter- ‘to rub’
term, thrill, tram, thro, 35 more
through Latin trīcae ‘trifles’
Today it means
noun A complicated or clandestine plot or scheme intended to affect some purpose by secret artifice; conspiracy; stratagem; the practice of engaging in hidden schemes.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin trīcae / intrigue