intricate

English

Etymology 1

From Latin intricatus, past participle of intricare.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.tɹɪ.kət/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

intricate (comparative more intricate, superlative most intricate)

1. Having a great deal of fine detail or complexity.

   The architecture of this clock is very intricate.

   • 1715 May 15 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 39. Wednesday, May 4. [1715.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], published 1721, →OCLC:

     His style of writing […] was […] fit to convey the most intricate business to the understanding […] with the utmost clearness.

   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter V, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     As a matter of fact its narrow ornate façade presented not a single quiet space that the eyes might rest on after a tiring attempt to follow and codify the arabesques, foliations, and intricate vermiculations of what some disrespectfully dubbed as “near-aissance.”

   • 1950 March, H. A. Vallance, “On Foot Across the Forth Bridge”, in Railway Magazine, page 149:

     From this point of vantage, we were able to gain an impression of the massive outlines of the main structure, and its intricate maze of girders.

Derived terms

• intricately
• intricateness

 

Translations

having a great deal of fine detail or complexity

• Bulgarian: сложен (bg) (složen), заплетен (bg) (zapleten)
• Catalan: intricat (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 複雜的／复杂的 (fùzá de)

• Dutch: ingewikkeld (nl), gecompliceerd (nl)
• Finnish: monimutkainen (fi), konstikas (fi), mutkikas (fi)
• French: compliqué (fr), tortueux (fr)
• Galician: intricado m
• Georgian: ჩახლართული (čaxlartuli)
• German: aufwendig (de), kompliziert (de), ausgeklügelt (de), raffiniert (de), kunstvoll (de), knifflig (de), verzwickt (de), vertrackt (de), verwickelt (de), filigran (de), diffizil (de)
• Greek: μπερδεμένος (el) (berdeménos)

  Ancient: πολύπλοκος (polúplokos)

• Hebrew: מסובך, מורכב (he)
• Hungarian: tekervényes (hu), bonyolult (hu), szövevényes (hu), komplikált (hu)
• Irish: casta, achrannach, aimhréidh, cas (ga), doraidh, doréidh, eanglamtha
• Italian: intricato (it)
• Japanese: 複雑 (ja) (ふくざつ, fukuzatsu)
• Korean: 복잡(複雜)하다 (bokjap-hada)
• Latin: contortus, nodosus
• Macedonian: заплеткан (zapletkan)
• Manx: cramp
• Maori: takawhiwhiwhiwhi, takawhīwhiwhi, matatini
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: intrikat (no)

  Nynorsk: intrikat

• Plautdietsch: derchjehäakjat
• Portuguese: intrincado
• Russian: сло́жный (ru) (slóžnyj), запу́танный (ru) (zapútannyj), замыслова́тый (ru) (zamyslovátyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: eadar-fhighte
• Slovak: zložitý, komplikovaný
• Spanish: intrincado (es)
• Swedish: intrikat (sv), invecklad (sv)
• Tagalog: saligutgot
• Turkish: ince işçilik
• Vietnamese: phức tạp (vi) (複雜)
• Zazaki: cıtêfil m, cıtêfile f

Etymology 2

As the adjective; or by analogy with extricate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.tɹɪ.keɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

intricate (third-person singular simple present intricates, present participle intricating, simple past and past participle intricated)

1. (intransitive) To become enmeshed or entangled.
   • 1864 October 18, J.E. Freund, “How to Avoid the Use of Lint”, letter to the editor, in The New York Times (1864 October 23):

     […] washes off easily, without sticking or intricating into the wound.

2. (transitive) To enmesh or entangle: to cause to intricate.
   • 1994 December 12, William Safire, “Avoid Dunkirk II” (essay), in The New York Times:

     But the British and French won't hear of that; they want to get their troops extricated and our ground troops intricated.

Antonyms

• extricate

References

• “intricate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• acitretin, triacetin, triactine

Italian

Adjective

intricate f pl

1. feminine plural of intricato

Verb

intricate

1. inflection of intricare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative
   3. feminine plural past participle

Anagrams

• recintati, trinciate

Latin

Verb

intrīcāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of intrīcō

Spanish

Verb

intricate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of intricar combined with te