From Latin 'in-' + 'plicāre' (to fold) — to fold someone into wrongdoing; the learned doublet of 'imply' from the same verb.
To show someone to be involved in a crime or wrongdoing; to convey a meaning indirectly.
From Latin 'implicātus,' past participle of 'implicāre' (to fold in, to enfold, to entangle, to involve), composed of 'in-' (in, into) + 'plicāre' (to fold, to bend, to plait), from PIE *pleḱ- (to plait, to fold, to weave). The literal image is of folding one thing into another so it cannot be separated. 'Implicate' is the learned doublet of 'imply' — both derive from 'implicāre,' but 'implicate' came through formal Latin and 'imply' through Old French erosion. 'Plicāre' generated a large family in Latin: 'explicare' (to unfold, to
'Imply' and 'implicate' are etymological doublets — both descend from Latin 'implicāre,' but 'imply' arrived through Old French phonological erosion (14th century) while 'implicate' was borrowed directly from Latin (16th century). English often has such pairs: one worn-down popular form and one pristine scholarly form, each with subtly different meanings.