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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

involve.

To have (something) as a component or a related part; to comprise, to include.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ɪnˈvɒlv/Received-Pronunciation/ɪnˈvɔlv/British, Southern, Standard/ɪnˈvoːv/Multicultural-London-English/ɪnˈvɑlv/General-American
  1. To have (something) as a component or a related part; to comprise, to include.

    transitive
    My job involves forecasting economic trends.
  2. To have (something) as a component or a related part; to comprise, to include. To include (something) as a logical or natural, or necessary component, or consequence or effect of something else; to entail, to imply.

    specifically · transitive
  3. To cause or engage (someone or something) to become connected or implicated, or to participate, in some activity or situation.

    transitive
    By involving herself in her local community, Mary met lots of people and also helped make it a nicer place to live.
    How can we involve the audience more during the show?
  4. To cause or engage (someone or something) to become connected or implicated, or to participate, in some activity or situation. Chiefly followed by with: to engage (someone or oneself) in an emotional or sexual relationship.

    also · reflexive · specifically · transitive
  5. To entangle, intertwine, or mingle (something with one or more other things, or several things together); especially, to entangle (someone or something) in a confusing or troublesome situation.

    figuratively · transitive
    to involve a person in debt or misery
  6. To cover or envelop (something) completely; to hide, to surround.

    archaic · transitive
    to involve in darkness or obscurity
  7. To form (something) into a coil or spiral, or into folds; to entwine, to fold up, to roll, to wind round.

    archaic · transitive
  8. To make (something) intricate; to complicate.

    archaic · obsolete · transitive
  9. To multiply (a number) by itself a given number of times; to raise to any assigned power.

    archaic · obsolete · transitive
    a quantity involved to the third or fourth power
Where this word comes from

PIE word *h₁én From Late Middle English involven (“to cloud; to encumber; to envelop, surround; to ponder (something); (reflexive) to concern (oneself) with something”) [and other forms], borrowed from Old French involver, envoudre, or from its etymon Latin involvere, the present active infinitive of Latin involvō (“to roll to or upon something; to roll about; to coil or curl up; to cover; to envelop, wrap up; to overwhelm”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + volvō (“to roll; to tumble”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn; to wind (turn coils)”)).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.