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interwoven

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Etymology and origin of the English word interwoven

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1642 H. More, Psychodia Platonica More words from the 17th century
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *weban

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈɪntəˌwəʊvən/[1]
  • US: /ˈɪntɚˌwoʊvən/[1]

Etymology

It is from English the past participle of interweave, used as an adjective.[2][3][4][5] The verb, recorded from 1598 in Florio's dictionary, is formed from inter- (“between”) and weave,[2][4] a hybrid of a Latin prefix and a native verb;[5][6] the latter goes back to Old English wefan, from Proto-Germanic *weban.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Woven together; interlaced; intricately mingled: 1642, in H. More's Psychodia Platonica.[2] Etymonline also dates it to the 1640s.[5]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline describes the adjective as used first of separate materials or strands woven into one fabric, and hence of things intermingled as if by weaving;[5] the OED's definition covers both, from the literal "woven together" to "intricately mingled or entangled".[2] The verb had a figurative use, of ideas or relations intertwined, from 1612.[2] Johnson (1755) gave interwoven, interwove and interweaved as the past participles of the verb,[7] and the Shorter Oxford still records interwove beside interwoven.[3]

Timeline

  • 1642 – woven together, interlaced; intricately mingled.[2] Etymonline dates it to the 1640s.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Woven together into one fabric or structure: a mat of interwoven reeds.[4][2][3]
  2. Closely mingled or connected, as if woven together: The novel follows three interwoven stories.[2][3]

Word family

  • uninterwoven
  • interwovenly
  • interweave
  • weave
  • intertwine

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
Cite this entry

“Interwoven.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/interwoven. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·