# intricate
## English
### Etymology 1

From Middle English intricat(e) (“entangled, intricate”), from Latin intrīcātus, perfect passive participle of intricō, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɪn.tɹɪ.kət/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (Southern England):(file)

#### Adjective

intricate (comparative more intricate, superlative most intricate)
* Having a great deal of fine detail or complexity.
    The architecture of this clock is very intricate.
** 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.
* (archaic) Difficult to disentangle, puzzle apart, or resolve; enigmatic, obscure.
** 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 2:The Ways of Heav’n are dark and intricate, Puzzled in Mazes, and perplext with Errors; Our Underſtanding traces ’em in vain, Loſt and bewilder’d in the fruitleſs Search; Nor ſees with how much Art the Windings run, Nor where the regular Confuſion ends.
** 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.

##### Derived terms

* intricately
* intricateness

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

As for Etymology 1; from Latin intrīcātus, see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɪn.tɹɪ.keɪt/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)

#### Verb

intricate (third-person singular simple present intricates, present participle intricating, simple past and past participle intricated)
* (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.
* (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
* feminine plural of intricato

### Verb

intricate
* inflection of intricare:
** second-person plural present indicative
** second-person plural imperative
** feminine plural past participle

### Anagrams

* recintati, trinciate

## Latin
### Verb

intrīcāte
* second-person plural present active imperative of intrīcō

## Spanish
### Verb

intricate
* second-person singular voseo imperative of intricar combined with te