explain

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English [edit]

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Etymology [edit]

Middle English explanen, from Old French explaner, from Latin explanāre (to flatten, to spread out, make plain or clear, explain), from ex- (out) + planāre (to flatten, make level), from planus (level, plain); see plain and plane. Compare esplanade, splanade. Displaced native Middle English arecchen, irecchen (to explain, expound) (from Old English āreccan, ġereccan).

Pronunciation [edit]

  • (UK) IPA: /ɪkˈspleɪ̯n/, /ɛkˈspleɪ̯n/
  • (US) IPA: /ɪkˈspleɪ̯n/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪn

Verb [edit]

explain (third-person singular simple present explains, present participle explaining, simple past and past participle explained)

  1. To make plain, manifest, or intelligible; to clear of obscurity; to illustrate the meaning of.
    • 2012 March 1, Brian Hayes, “Pixels or Perish”, American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 106: 
      Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse. Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.
    To explain a chapter of the Bible.
  2. To give a valid excuse for some past behavior.
  3. (obsolete) To make flat, smooth out.
  4. (obsolete) To unfold or make visible.
    • Evelyn
      The horse-chestnut is [] ready to explain its leaf.

Synonyms [edit]

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External links [edit]