English
complication
Complication comes from Latin complicatio ‘folding up’, from complicō ‘to fold or roll up or together’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-1‘to fold, plait, weave’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicō1‘fold or lay together’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomplicō2‘to fold or roll up or together’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomplicatio3as complicatio‘folding up’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600complication3
- Englishearliest quotation 1646complication3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin complico
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin complicatio
- 3 Wiktionary, English complication
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1646, Thomas Browne: “the snaky complication in the Caduceus or rod of…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-Wiktionary, Latin complico‘to fold, plait, weave’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicōWiktionary, Latin complico‘fold or lay together’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomplicōWiktionary, Latin complicatio‘to fold or roll up or together’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomplicatioWiktionary, English complicationas complicatio‘folding up’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600complicationWiktionary, English complication
- Englishearliest quotation 1646complicationWiktionary, English complication. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1646, Thomas Browne: “the snaky complication in the Caduceus or rod of…”
Formed from complicate + -ion
Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’
Latin plicō ‘fold or lay together’
Latin complicō ‘to fold together, fold up’
Latin complicātus ‘folded up, complicated, complex’
English complicate
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’
exploitation, fiasco, flax, flack, plexus, replication, flagon, 36 more
through Latin plicō ‘fold or lay together’
apply, display, reply, employment, exploit, employ, explicit, deploy, imply, replica, ploy, ply, implicit, supple, inexplicable, pliable, implicate, splay, pliant, triplicate, supplication, explication, 24 more
through Latin complicō ‘to fold or roll up or together’
Today it means
noun The act or process of complicating.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “complication”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin complico, Latin complicatio. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- / complication