Collude
/kəˈluːd/noun
To secretly cooperate for a deceitful or illegal purpose.
Did you know?Collude comes from Latin roots tied to playing and laughing together, showing how a harmless social idea could harden into a word for covert conspiracy.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
colludere
“to play together, sport with one another”
Late Latin
Latin
collūdere
“to conspire or act deceitfully together”
14th Century
Middle English
colluden
“to act in concert secretly or fraudulently”
Modern English
English
collude
“to secretly cooperate, especially to deceive or defraud”