different between intrigue vs contrive

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.

English

Etymology

From Middle English contreve (“to invent”), from Old French controver (Modern French controuver), from trover (“to find”) (French trouver).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?n?t?a?v/
• Rhymes: -a?v

Verb

contrive (third-person singular simple present contrives, present participle contriving, simple past and past participle contrived)

1. To invent by an exercise of ingenuity; to devise

   Synonyms: plan, scheme, plot, hatch

   • 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Modern Library Edition (1995), page 154

     […] I cannot bear the idea of two young women traveling post by themselves. It is highly improper. You must contrive to send somebody.

2. To invent, to make devices; to form designs especially by improvisation.
3. To project, cast, or set forth, as in a projection of light.
4. (obsolete, transitive) To spend (time, or a period).

Synonyms

• becast
• cast about

Derived terms

• contrived
• contriver
• contrivance

Translations

Anagrams

• renovict