http://wordie.org/words/perplexed Comments for the word 'Perplexed' http://wordie.org http://wordie.org/words/perplexed#comments An interesting point. The OED notes that Latin had no verb *perplectere, only the adjective perplex-us, which looks like it's the past participle of such a verb, but might instead have come from per- "thoroughly" + the past participle plex-us of plect-ere "plait, interweave, entangle". <br /> <br />The English adjective was originally '<a href="/words/perplex">perplex</a>', with the other words (verb and 'perplexed') derived from it. <br /> Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:45:52 +0000 http://wordie.org/words/perplexed#comments http://wordie.org/words/perplexed#comments After reading the conversation on <a href="/words/rumoured">rumoured</a>, I just thought this one might interest you as well.<br />A similar reflection might be done about <a href="/words/perplexed">perplexed</a>, I guess, at least in Italian.<br />Some (rather <a href="/words/knowledgeable">knowledgeable</a>) people try to use the verb <a href="/words/perplimere">perplimere</a> (something like <a href="/words/to perplime">to perplime</a>) as the infinitive of <a href="/words/perplexed">perplexed</a>.<br />The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accademia_della_Crusca">Accademia della Crusca</a> states that it doesn't exist (it was made up for a comical TV show in the 90's), but as a back-formation it's very interesting indeed.<br />Is <a href="/words/perplex">perplex</a> a back-formation as well? Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:12:22 +0000 http://wordie.org/words/perplexed#comments