After scanning CE for interesting words for over two years I have been impressed with the level of intelligence of many of the people that post regularly. Sometimes an interesting word stands out, and other times it takes a while to find something that can be considered interesting. Considering the source it is not unusual to have a word that was used as a word of the day previously. At times the word of the day is found in an article that is quoted or other quoted source. If you see an interesting word being used on CE please mention me in the topic.
If you want to post in this topic, try to use the word of the day in a sentence.
Complicit is a relatively recent addition to English vocabulary, arriving in the mid-1800s. It is a back-formation from complicity association or participation in a wrongful act, which came straight from a French word of the same meaning, complicit, in the 1600s. The oldest English word in this family is the now-obsolete complice (pronounced /COMP-liss/)defined as an associate or accomplice especially in crimewhich dates back to the 1400s, when it came from French. These words ultimately derive from the Latin verb meaning to fold together, complicare, formed by combining com- (meaning with, together, or jointly) and the verb plicare, meaning to fold.
This literal meaning evolved into a figurative one: the definition of complicit, helping to commit a crime or do wrong, describes individuals who are folded together metaphorically. Complicity and the its cousins accomplice, complicitous, and complice are all part of this gang.
Complicare, in a second of its Latin senses, to twist together, is the root of another English word, complicate, which originally meant to unite intimately by intertwining. In this case, the idea of things twisted together makes sense as an image of something composed of many elements, that is, something complicated. The -pli- of these words is from plicare (to fold), which is also the root of ply, the verb meaning to twist together or the noun meaning one of several layers.
Other words that derive from plicare are also illuminated by their etymologies: explicit revealed without ambiguity ultimately comes from Latin explicare, meaning to unfold, while implicit, meaning implied, descends from a Latin verb whose roots literally mean to fold in.
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Some are wise, some are otherwise, and I have my moments.