complicate
verb
- to cause to be more complex, difficult, involved
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈkɒmplɪkət/ / /ˈkɑmplɪkeɪt/ / /ˈkɒmplɪkeɪt/
adj
Etymology: First attested in the early 17ᵗʰ century; borrowed from Latin complicātus, perfect passive participle of complicō (“to fold together”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from con- (“together”) + plicō (“to fold, weave, knit”); see plaid, and compare complex. See also Middle English complicate (“involved”).
- Intertwined.
- Complex, complicated.
“How poor, how rich, how abject, how august, / How complicate, how wonderful, is Man!”
verb
Etymology: First attested in the early 17ᵗʰ century; borrowed from Latin complicātus, perfect passive participle of complicō (“to fold together”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from con- (“together”) + plicō (“to fold, weave, knit”); see plaid, and compare complex. See also Middle English complicate (“involved”).
- To make complex; to modify so as to make something intricate or difficult.
“Let us, however, put aside for the moment the mendacities and forgeries which complicate the question of Lucifer, and let us approach Palladism from an altogether different side.”
- To involve in a convoluted matter.
“Don't complicate yourself in issues that are beyond the scope of your understanding.”
“John has been complicated in the affair by new tapes that surfaced.”
- To coexist with (another disease) creating a complication.
“Masked or larvate malaria, like pernicious malaria, needs complete overhauling. Nearly every disease in the category has been confounded with malaria and classed as larvate. This heterogeneous group has been expanded to embrace diseases unrelated to malaria, diseases complicating malaria, and symptoms and sequelæ of malaria.”