Etymologists theorize the noun plot may be a shortening of complot, a now-archaic word meaning "plot, conspiracy," found in such Shakespearean works as Titus Andronicus and Richard II. Plot, synonymous with intrigue or conspiracy, is the term for a secret plan contrived by one or more persons for accomplishing a usually evil or unlawful end.

A defeated plot may be thwarted or foiled. Thwart may suggest the checking or frustrating of a course by obstruction with a block or barrier; it has an Old English ancestor meaning "transverse, oblique."

The history of foil is itself a bit oblique. Its Middle English ancestor meant "to trample"; its original meaning in English was "to tread underfoot; trample." That sense is now obsolete, but foil survives with two senses: "to spoil (a trail or scent) by crossing or retracing"; and "to bring to naught" as by checking or defeating with galling or disheartening discomfiture.

Two other closely related words, fascist and fascism, sparked particular interest when President Bush used the term fascist in connection with the terrorist attempt. For a closer look at this word, see this month's Word History of the Month.