implicate

[ im-pli-keyt ]

verb (used with object)

, im·pli·cat·ed, im·pli·cat·ing.

1. to show to be also involved, usually in an incriminating manner:

   to be implicated in a crime.

2. to imply as a necessary circumstance, or as something to be inferred or understood.
3. to connect or relate to intimately; affect as a consequence:

   The malfunctioning of one part of the nervous system implicates another part.

4. Archaic. to fold or twist together; intertwine; interlace.

implicate

/ ˈɪmplɪˌkeɪt; ɪmˈplɪkətɪv /

verb

1. to show to be involved, esp in a crime
2. to involve as a necessary inference; imply

   his protest implicated censure by the authorities

3. to affect intimately

   this news implicates my decision

4. rare.
   to intertwine or entangle

Derived Forms

• imˈplicatively, adverb
• implicative, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of implicate¹

First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin implicātus, past participle of implicāre “to interweave,” equivalent to im- im- ¹ + plicā(re) “to fold” + -ātus -ate ¹; ply ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of implicate¹

C16: from Latin implicāre to involve, from im- + plicāre to fold

Synonym Study

See involve.

Example Sentences

In October, the indictment implicated a fourth deputy.

From Los Angeles Times

The Young Turks have a largely male audience, and as progressive as the channel's voices may imagine themselves to be, there's a pronounced tendency toward the view that women are implicated in men's problems.

From Salon

It also asks health care institutions to support an arms embargo of Israel and divestment from companies implicated in violence.

From Salon

They said there was no other evidence implicating Duran, and he had an alibi: He’d been with his girlfriend and her mother.

From Los Angeles Times

As a federal prosecutor, Hochman sought to convict a defendant caught up in “Operation Big Spender” in the 1990s, a scandal that implicated deputies in embezzling over $1 million seized in drug raids.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• accuse
• affect
• blame
• charge
• cite
• embroil
• entangle
• incriminate
• suggest