Convolute

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˌkɒnvəˈluːt/

Definitions

1. To make something extremely complicated, twisted, or difficult to understand through excessive complexity
2. To twist or fold inward in a complex spiral pattern, or to become intricately tangled through repeated coiling and winding movements
3. To cause something to become overly complicated or hard to follow ; to bend or wind something into a tight spiral or fold

Etymology: Latin "convolvere" meant "to roll together," built from "com-" ("together") and "volvere" ("to roll, turn over"), a verb whose descendants include English "revolve" and "evolve." The past participle "convolutus" gave English "convolute," which arrived as a borrowing, so the word reached English already shaped like a Latin participle rather than being coined from English parts. The original image is physical: something rolled or wound up on itself, like a scroll or a tightly coiled cord. That sense survives in botany and zoology, where "convolute" describes a leaf or petal rolled inward, or a structure folded in spiral layers. The modern sense of tangled, overly complicated reasoning grew out of that picture of things wound into knots, so a convoluted argument is one whose parts have been rolled around one another until they are hard to unwind.

Synonyms: twist, coil, wind, entangle, intertwine

Antonyms: untwist, unwind, straighten, simplify, uncoil