different between intricate vs intrigue

English

Etymology 1

From Latin intricatus, past participle of intricare.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??n.t??.k?t/

Adjective

intricate (comparative more intricate, superlative most intricate)

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

Translations

Etymology 2

As the adjective; or by analogy with extricate

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??n.t??.ke?t/

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.

References

• intricate at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• acitretin, triacetin, triactine

Italian

Adjective

intricate f pl

1. feminine plural of intricato

Verb

intricate

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

Anagrams

• recintati
• trinciate

Latin

Verb

intr?c?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of intr?c?

English

Alternative forms

• entrigue

Etymology

Borrowed from French intrigue, from Italian intricare, from Latin intr?c? (“I entangle, perplex, embarrass”). Doublet of intricate.

Pronunciation

• (noun) enPR: ?n'tr?g, IPA^(key): /??nt?i??/
• (verb) enPR: ?ntr?g', IPA^(key): /?n?t?i??/
• Rhymes: -i??

Noun

intrigue (countable and uncountable, plural intrigues)

1. A complicated or clandestine plot or scheme intended to effect some purpose by secret artifice; conspiracy; stratagem.

   • […] lost in such a jungle of intrigues, pettifoggings, treacheries, diplomacies domestic and foreign […]

2. The plot of a play, poem or romance; the series of complications in which a writer involves their imaginary characters.
3. Clandestine intercourse between persons; illicit intimacy; a liaison or affair.
   • 1976, John Harold Wilson, Court Satires of the Restoration (page 245)

     In 1679 and 1680 there were persistent rumors of an intrigue between Mary, Lady Grey, and the Duke of Monmouth.

Translations

Verb

intrigue (third-person singular simple present intrigues, present participle intriguing, simple past and past participle intrigued)

1. (intransitive) To conceive or carry out a secret plan intended to harm; to form a plot or scheme.
2. (transitive) To arouse the interest of; to fascinate.
3. (intransitive) To have clandestine or illicit intercourse.
4. (transitive) To fill with artifice and duplicity; to complicate.
   • c. 1681, John Scott, The Christian Life from its beginning to its Consummation in Glory […]

     How doth it [sin] perplex and intrigue the whole course of your lives!

Translations

Related terms

• intricacy
• intricate
• intriguer
• intriguery
• intriguing
• intriguingly

References

• intrigue in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• intrigue in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.t?i?/

Noun

intrigue f (plural intrigues)

1. intrigue (all senses)

Verb

intrigue

1. inflection of intriguer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “intrigue” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /?.?t?i.?i/

Verb

intrigue

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of intrigar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of intrigar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of intrigar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of intrigar

Spanish

Verb

intrigue

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of intrigar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of intrigar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of intrigar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of intrigar.