involve

[in-volv]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR involve ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), in·volved, in·volv·ing.

to include as a necessary circumstance, condition, or consequence; imply; entail: This job involves long hours and hard work.

to engage or employ.

to affect, as something within the scope of operation.

to include, contain, or comprehend within itself or its scope.

to bring into an intricate or complicated form or condition.

to bring into difficulties (usually followed by with): a plot to involve one nation in a war with another.

to cause to be troublesomely associated or concerned, as in something embarrassing or unfavorable: Don't involve me in your quarrel!

to combine inextricably (usually followed by with).

to implicate, as in guilt or crime, or in any matter or affair.

to engage the interests or emotions or commitment of: to become involved in the disarmament movement; to become involved with another woman.

to preoccupy or absorb fully (usually used passively or reflexively): You are much too involved with the problem to see it clearly.

to envelop or enfold, as if with a wrapping.

to swallow up, engulf, or overwhelm.

Archaic.to roll, surround, or shroud, as in a wrapping.
to roll up on itself; wind spirally; coil; wreathe.

Origin of involve

1350–1400; Middle English involven < Latin involvere to roll in or up, equivalent to in- in-² + volvere to roll; see revolve

Related formsin·volve·ment, nounin·volv·er, nounin·ter·in·volve, verb (used with object), in·ter·in·volved, in·ter·in·volv·ing.non·in·volve·ment, nouno·ver·in·volve, verb (used with object), o·ver·in·volved, o·ver·in·volv·ing.pre·in·volve, verb (used with object), pre·in·volved, pre·in·volv·ing.pre·in·volve·ment, nounre·in·volve, verb (used with object), re·in·volved, re·in·volv·ing.re·in·volve·ment, noun

Synonyms for involve

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR involve ON THESAURUS.COM

1. necessitate, require, demand. 6, 7, 9. Involve, entangle, implicate imply getting a person connected or bound up with something from which it is difficult to extricate himself or herself. To involve is to bring more or less deeply into something, especially of a complicated, embarrassing, or troublesome nature: to involve someone in debt. To entangle (usually passive or reflexive) is to involve so deeply in a tangle as to confuse and make helpless: to entangle oneself in a mass of contradictory statements. To implicate is to connect a person with something discreditable or wrong: implicated in a plot.

Antonyms for involve

7. extricate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for involvement

engagement, responsibility, relationship, entanglement, embarrassment, quandary, crisis, embroilment, association, study, reflection, preoccupation, intentness

Examples from the Web for involvement

Contemporary Examples of involvement

Did he denounce the involvement of organized crime in the abduction and disappearance of 43 students in the nearby city of Iguala?
Mexico’s Priests Are Marked for Murder
Jason McGahan
January 7, 2015
In particular, it applies to immigrants who lost their U.S. citizenship after their involvement in World War II was discovered.
Nazis, Sunscreen, and Sea Gull Eggs: Congress in 2014 Was Hella Productive
Ben Jacobs
December 29, 2014
So your involvement with On the Town started while looking for a So You Think You Can Dance prize?
Nigel Lythgoe on How to Save Reality TV, ‘On the Town,’ and ‘Brokeback Ballroom’
Kevin Fallon
October 22, 2014
Involvement of people in the information they read,” wrote the Harvard professor Jonathan Zittrain, “is an important end itself.
You Can Look It Up: The Wikipedia Story
Walter Isaacson
October 19, 2014
An additional three were arrested in Armenia and four in Medellín for their involvement, according to ICE.
Colombian Beauty Queen Arrested for Running Child Prostitution Ring
Jason Batansky
October 17, 2014

Historical Examples of involvement

The involvement of language, in particular of writing and reading, is significant.
The Civilization of Illiteracy
Mihai Nadin
For others, it will become what they themselves make of it through their involvement.
The Civilization of Illiteracy
Mihai Nadin
Its arrival and involvement in the revolt was pure accident.
Talents, Incorporated
William Fitzgerald Jenkins
The involvement of the public in county government was seen in many forms.
The Fairfax County Courthouse
Ross D. Netherton
We cannot conceive of matter, without an involvement of these two properties.
The Senses and The Mind
Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for involvement

involve

verb (tr)

to include or contain as a necessary partthe task involves hard work

to have an effect on; spread tothe investigation involved many innocent people

(often passive; usually foll by in or with) to concern or associate significantlymany people were involved in the crime

(often passive) to make complicated; tanglethe situation was further involved by her disappearance

rare, often poetic to wrap or surround

maths obsolete to raise to a specified power

Derived Formsinvolvement, nouninvolver, noun

Word Origin for involve

C14: from Latin involvere to roll in, surround, from in- ² + volvere to roll

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for involvement

1706, from involve + -ment.

involve

late 14c., "envelop, surround," from Latin involvere "envelop, surround, overwhelm," literally "roll into," from in- "in" (see in- (2)) + volvere "to roll" (see volvox). Originally "envelop, surround," sense of "take in, include" first recorded c.1600. Related: Involved; Involving.

Idioms and Phrases with involvement

involve

see get involved with.