1750, "a jumble;" 1818 as "complicated misunderstanding, intricate entanglement" (of persons, nations, etc.), from Italian imbroglio, from imbrogliare "confuse, tangle," from assimilated form of in- "into, in, on, upon" (from PIE root *en "in") + brogliare "embroil," probably from Middle French brouiller "confuse" (see broil (v.2); also compare embroil).
