complication (n.)
early 15c., "complex combination or intricate intermingling," from Latin complicationem (nominative complicatio), noun of action from past participle stem of complicare "to fold together, fold up, roll up," from com "with, together" (see com-) + plicare "to fold, weave" (from PIE root *plek- "to plait").
From 1690s as "an additional disorder which develops during the course of an existing one," hence, generally, "that which renders (an existing situation) complex, involved, or intricate."
Complication commonly implies entanglement resulting either in difficulty of comprehension or in embarrassment; complexity, the multiplicity and not easily recognized relation of parts; as business complications; the complexity of a machine; the complexity of a question of duty. [Century Dictionary]
Entries linking to complication
word-forming element usually meaning "with, together," from Latin com, archaic form of classical Latin cum "together, together with, in combination," from PIE *kom- "beside, near, by, with" (compare Old English ge-, German ge-). The prefix in Latin sometimes was used as an intensive.
Before vowels and aspirates, it is reduced to co-; before -g-, it is assimilated to cog- or con-; before -l-, assimilated to col-; before -r-, assimilated to cor-; before -c-, -d-, -j-, -n-, -q-, -s-, -t-, and -v-, it is assimilated to con-, which was so frequent that it often was used as the normal form.
Trends of complication
updated on February 10, 2018
Dictionary entries near complication
complexity
compliance
compliant
complicate
complicated
complication
complicity
compliment
complimentary
compline
comply
