English
connive
Connive may come from French conniver ‘to ignore and thus become complicit in…’.
- Frenchc. 1600–presentconniver1‘to ignore and thus become complicit in wrongdoing’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1659connive1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English connive
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1659, Jeremy Taylor, Ductor Dubitantium: “For ſince the affairs of the world have in…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentconniverWiktionary, English connive‘to ignore and thus become complicit in wrongdoing’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1659conniveWiktionary, English connive. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1659, Jeremy Taylor, Ductor Dubitantium: “For ſince the affairs of the world have in…”
The story
From French conniver (‘to ignore and thus become complicit in wrongdoing’), or directly from its etymon Latin con(n)īvēre (‘close or screw up the eyes, blink, wink; overlook, turn a blind eye, connive’) (perhaps alluding to two persons involved in a scheme together winking to each other), from con- (prefix indicating a being or bringing together of several objects) + *nīvēre (related to nictō (‘to blink, wink’), from Proto-Indo-European *kneygʷʰ- (‘to bend, droop’)).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱe ‘Deictic particle, here’
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‘beside, near, by, with’
among, gain, comply, hind, likeness, kata, limbed, 30 more
through Proto-Italic *kom ‘with, along, at’
cum, consideration, cue, 13 more
through Proto-Italic *kom- ‘together’
conference, consider, competition, counter, consistent, concrete, commodity, con, compulsory, compel, contra, concierge, connotation, condiment, condescend, 14 more
Today it means
verb To secretly cooperate with other people in order to commit a crime or other wrongdoing; to collude, to conspire.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “connive”. 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 / French conniver / connive