Other forms: embroiled, embroiling, embroils
To embroil is to drag somebody into a quarrel or a mess. Embroil the whole family.
It is nearly always passive, since people report being embroiled rather than doing it. To embroil somebody means they did not choose to be there.
1verbembroilTo drag somebody into a quarrel or a mess.
“One letter was enough to embroil three departments for a year.”
embroil is an involving.
French embrouiller means to entangle, from en plus brouiller, to confuse.
Proto-Indo-European
*bʰrewh₁- — to boil; to brew
Proto-Germanic
*bruþą — stock, broth
Frankish
*broþ — broth
Latin
brodium — broth, stew; mixture
Vulgar Latin
*brodiculāre
French
embrouiller — to entangle
English, today
embroil
Built from
The verb is borrowed from French embrouiller (“to entangle”), from em- (a variant of en-) + brouiller (“to confuse, mix up”) (ultimately from Vulgar Latin brodiculāre, from brodicāre, from Latin brodium (“broth, stew; mixture”), from Frankish broþ (“broth”), from Proto-Germanic bruþą (“stock, broth”), from Proto-Indo-European bʰrewh₁- (“to boil; to brew”)). The noun is derived from the verb. 2
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA