late Middle English (as an adjective in the sense ‘adulterated’, and as a verb in the sense ‘mix with a foreign substance’): from medieval Latin sophisticatus ‘tampered with’, past participle of the verb sophisticare, from sophisticus ‘sophistic’. The shift of sense probably occurred first in the adjective unsophisticated, from ‘uncorrupted’ via ‘innocent’ to ‘inexperienced, uncultured’. The noun dates from the early 20th century.