Etymologically
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intricate

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈɪn.tɹɪ.kət/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin intrīcātus (“entangled”), the past participle of intrīcō (“to entangle, perplex, embarrass”),[2][3][4][5] formed from in- (“in, into”) and trīcae (“trifles, tricks, perplexities, hindrances”),[2][3][5][6] a plural noun of unknown origin.[5][7][3] The OED and the SOED connect it with trīcor (“to raise difficulties, play tricks”),[2][6] which Ayto takes as the probable source, through French, of trick,[7] and Merriam-Webster suggests that trīcae is perhaps akin to torqueō (“to twist”).[8] Barnhart adds that the word may in some cases have come through Old French entriqué or Old Occitan intricat.[5] It is related to extricate and intrigue.[3][9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Physically entangled, as a technical term in medicine: probably before 1425, in Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie.[5][3] The OED's first record, from Henryson's Fables (probably before 1500), is of statements that are involved and obscure in meaning.[2]

Semantic evolution

The general sense "perplexingly entangled, complicated" is recorded from 1579, in the dedicatory epistle to Spenser's Shepheardes Calender.[5][2] From 1526 to 1528 intricate also meant "entangled in" something,[2] and in 1664 it was briefly a noun, "an intricacy".[2] A verb intricate, to entangle or to make involved, was borrowed from the same Latin stem in 1548;[2][6] Johnson (1755) called it "not proper, nor in use".[11] The noun intricacy followed in 1602.[5]

Timeline

  • probably before 1425 – physically entangled, in medical writing.[5][3]
  • before 1500 – of statements, involved, obscure.[2]
  • 1548 – verb, to entangle or ensnare.[2]
  • 1579 – perplexingly entangled or complicated.[5][2]
  • 1602 – intricacy.[5]
  • 1826 – in entomology, of markings.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having many small parts or details arranged in a complex way: an intricate lace pattern.[12][8][2]
  2. Hard to follow or understand; complicated or involved: an intricate plot.[12][8][2]

Verb

  1. (rare) To make complicated, or to entangle.[2][6][8]

Word family

  • intricately
  • intricateness
  • intricacy
  • unintricate

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  8. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins