in·tri·cate

[in-tri-kit]
adjective
1.
having many interrelated parts or facets; entangled or involved: an intricate maze.
2.
complex; complicated; hard to understand, work, or make: an intricate machine.

Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin intrīcātus, past participle of intrīcāre to entangle, equivalent to in- in-2 + trīc(ae) perplexities + -ātus -ate1

in·tri·cate·ly, adverb
in·tri·cate·ness, noun
un·in·tri·cate, adjective
un·in·tri·cate·ly, adverb
un·in·tri·cate·ness, noun


1. knotty, tangled, labyrinthine.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To intricate
00:10
Intricate is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
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World English Dictionary
intricate (ˈɪntrɪkɪt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
1.  difficult to understand; obscure; complex; puzzling
2.  entangled or involved: intricate patterns
 
[C15: from Latin intrīcāre to entangle, perplex, from in-² + trīcae trifles, perplexities]
 
'intricacy
 
n
 
'intricateness
 
n
 
'intricately
 
adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

intricate
c.1470, from L. intricatus "entangled," pp. of intricare "to entangle, perplex, embarrass," from in- "in" + tricæ (pl.) "perplexities, hindrances, toys, tricks," of uncertain origin (cf. extricate).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
His pictures are consistently geometric, intricate, and clever in the way they
  link disparate parts into a larger whole.
Personnel reshuffling could hardly retrieve the intricate situation, which is
  again entangled with an unfree political system.
Radiolarians are tiny protists that live inside intricate silica shells.
These differences tell us that intricate patterns aren't stamped onto a fish's
  skin according to a genetically encoded blueprint.
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