elucidate

English

Etymology

From Late Latin elucidatus, past participle of elucidō (“clarify”), from Latin ex- and lucidus (“clear”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /əˈluː.sɪ.deɪt/, SAMPA: /@"lu:.sI.deIt/

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Verb

elucidate (third-person singular simple present elucidates, present participle elucidating, simple past and past participle elucidated)

1. To make clear; to clarify; to shed light upon.
   • 1817, Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, ch. 13:

     The business, however, though not perfectly elucidated by this speech, soon ceased to be a puzzle.

   • 1960, "Medicine: Unmasking the Brain," Time, 4 April:

     [P]hysicians at the annual meeting of the American Academy of General Practice were fascinated by a 3-ft. model showing the brain's components in 20 layers of translucent plastic, and wired for colored lights to elucidate some of its workings.

   • 2004, David Bernstein, “Philosophy Hitches a Ride With ‘The Sopranos’,” New York Times, 13 April (retrieved 19 Aug. 2009):

     The new Sopranos volume has 17 essays that examine the television show and elucidate concepts from classical philosophers, including Aristotle, Machiavelli, Nietzsche, Sun Tzu and Plato.

Synonyms

• explicate, illuminate

Derived terms

• elucidation
• elucidative
• elucidator
• elucidatory

Related terms

• lucid
• lucidity

Translations

make clear

Czech: ozřejmit (cs) Danish: uddybe (da) Dutch: verduidelijken (nl), verklaren (nl), uitleggen (nl), verhelderen (nl), clarificeren (nl) Finnish: valaista (fi), havainnollistaa (fi), selventää (fi) French: élucider (fr), expliquer (fr) German: erläutern, verdeutlichen, erklären

Hebrew: ביאר \ בֵּאֵר (he) (be'ér), פירש \ פֵּרֵשׁ (he) (perésh) Italian: chiarire (it) Norwegian: klargjøre (no) Polish: objaśniać (pl), wyjaśniać (pl) Russian: разъяснять (raz"jasnjat') Spanish: dilucidar (es), elucidar (es) Swedish: klargöra (sv), förklara (sv)

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Latin

Verb

ēlūcidāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of ēlūcidō