Etymology

complicate

com·pli·cate
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Today it means: To make complex; to modify so as to make something intricate or difficult. Full definition →

Latin complicātus
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The story

  1. Latin · borrowed fromcomplicātus
  2. English todaycomplicate

First attested in the early 17th century; borrowed from Latin complicātus, perfect passive participle of complicō (“to fold together, fold up”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from con- (“with, together with, in the company of, in connection with, along with, together, and”) + plicō (“to fold, wind, coil”); see plaid, and compare complex. See also Middle English complicate (“involved”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.