What does entanglement mean?
Entanglement is the condition of being caught in, twisted up with, or complicatedly involved in something — literally, as when ropes or vines form an impenetrable snarl, and figuratively, as when a person becomes trapped in a romantic affair, a legal dispute, or a political alliance that is hard to walk away from. The word almost always suggests difficulty, complication, and a loss of freedom; we speak of avoiding 'foreign entanglements' or untangling oneself from 'financial entanglements.' In modern science the word has taken on a strikingly different life: in quantum mechanics, entanglement describes particles whose properties remain correlated regardless of the distance between them, a phenomenon so counterintuitive that Einstein called it 'spooky action at a distance.' Derived from the verb 'entangle,' which combines the prefix 'en-' with 'tangle,' the word has been part of English since the early seventeenth century and remains indispensable wherever complexity and capture meet.
nounThe state of being twisted together with, or caught in, something else; a complicated or compromising relationship or involvement from which escape is difficult.
- A physical state of being twisted together or caught in something.
- A complicated, difficult-to-escape involvement or relationship (often romantic, financial, legal, or political).
- In physics: the phenomenon whereby two or more particles remain correlated such that the state of each cannot be described independently of the others.
"She longed to leave the small town and its web of family entanglements behind her."
"The hikers had to cut through the entanglement of vines blocking the trail."
"Their brief romantic entanglement ended as awkwardly as it began."
Commonly used in the plural for multiple complicated involvements, especially romantic, financial, legal, or political ones.
"He retired to the countryside hoping to avoid further business entanglements."
In quantum physics, entangled particles stay mysteriously linked no matter how far apart they drift — Einstein famously dismissed it as 'spooky action at a distance.'
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of entanglement
Entanglement derives from the verb 'entangle,' formed in English by adding the prefix 'en-' (from Old French, ultimately Latin) to 'tangle,' a Middle English word of uncertain but likely Scandinavian origin related to 'tagle' and akin to Swedish 'tangsnär,' meaning seaweed or a snare. The noun 'entanglement' appeared in English in the early seventeenth century, first in literal senses of being caught or ensnared, then quickly in figurative senses of complicated involvements. Its most famous figurative use may be Thomas Jefferson's 1801 warning against 'entangling alliances.' Its twentieth-century adoption by physicists to translate the German 'Verschränkung' gave the ancient idea of being ensnared a wholly new scientific dimension.
Related word forms
How entanglement is actually used
Often carries a negative or cautionary connotation when used figuratively — entanglements are typically things one wishes to avoid or be freed from. In physics, however, 'entanglement' is neutral and denotes one of the most important phenomena in quantum mechanics. Common in formal writing about law, diplomacy, and finance.
Easily confused with entanglement
An engagement is a formal commitment or appointment, while an entanglement is an unwanted or complicated involvement.