Etymograph

English

imply

Imply comes from Latin implicare ‘to infold, involve’, from plicō ‘to fold’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to plait, to weave’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-1‘to plait, to weave’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicō2as plicare‘to fold’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimplicare2‘to infold, involve’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400emplier2
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500implien2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1590imply2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin plico
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English imply
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto IV: “And in his bosome secretly there lay / An…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-Wiktionary, Latin plico‘to plait, to weave’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicōWiktionary, English implyas plicare‘to fold’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimplicareWiktionary, English imply‘to infold, involve’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400emplierWiktionary, English imply
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500implienWiktionary, English imply
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1590implyWiktionary, English imply. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto IV: “And in his bosome secretly there lay / An…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to plait, to weave’

complex, fiasco, replication, flax, flack, plexus, flagon, 33 more

through Latin plicō ‘to fold’

display, apply, employment, reply, explicit, exploitation, exploit, deploy, replica, employ, complication, inexplicable, complicate, ploy, accomplice, implicit, complicity, supple, pliable, ply, supplication, implicate, triplicate, explication, pliant, splay, 21 more

Today it means

verb To have as a necessary consequence; to lead to (something) as a consequence.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “imply”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin plico. 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- / imply

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