expound

English

Etymology

From Middle English expounden, from Old French espondre, from Latin exponere. Doublet of expose.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪkˈspaʊnd/, /ɛkˈspaʊnd/

• Audio (US)

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  Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -aʊnd

Verb

expound (third-person singular simple present expounds, present participle expounding, simple past and past participle expounded)

1. (transitive) To set out the meaning of; to explain or discuss at length

   Synonym: spell out

   • 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter III, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London, New York, N.Y., Melbourne, Vic.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC, pages 63–64:

     “ […] Some day, when you are tired of London, come down to Treadley, and expound to me your philosophy of pleasure over some admirable Burgundy I am fortunate enough to possess.”

2. (intransitive, with on or upon) To make a statement, especially at length.

   He expounded often on the dangers of the imperial presidency.

   • 2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Evesham (1870)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 59:

     Fowler was also interested in metallurgy and the use of new materials that could withstand greater stresses, something he expounded on when giving his presidential address to the new Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1927.

Related terms

• exponent
• expose
• exposition

 

Translations

explain or discuss at length

• Bulgarian: обяснявам (bg) (objasnjavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 闡述／阐述 (zh) (chǎnshù), 闡明／阐明 (zh) (chǎnmíng)

• Dutch: uiteenzetten (nl)
• Finnish: selittää (fi)
• French: préciser (fr), expliciter (fr)
• Georgian: განავრცობს (ganavrcobs)
• German: erläutern (de), erklären (de), darlegen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌹𐌽𐍃𐌰𐌺𐌰𐌽 (insakan)
• Hindi: बखानना (hi) (bakhānnā), बखान करना (bakhān karnā), प्रतिपादन करना (pratipādan karnā), प्रतिपादित करना (pratipādit karnā), बैठाना (hi) (baiṭhānā)
• Hungarian: kifejt (hu)
• Ido: explikar (io)
• Italian: spiegare (it), illustrare (it)
• Japanese: 詳説する (ja) (しょうせつする, shōsetsu suru)
• Maori: whakapūaho
• Persian: تفصیل دادن (tafsil dâdan)
• Russian: разъясня́ть (ru) impf (razʺjasnjátʹ), разъясни́ть (ru) pf (razʺjasnítʹ), растолко́вывать (ru) impf (rastolkóvyvatʹ), растолкова́ть (ru) pf (rastolkovátʹ), излага́ть (ru) impf (izlagátʹ), изложи́ть (ru) pf (izložítʹ)
• Scots: expoond
• Serbo-Croatian: objasniti (sh), izložiti (sh), rastumačiti (sh)
• Spanish: exponer (es), explayar (es), disertar (es)
• Turkish: açımlamak (tr), şerh etmek (tr), teşrih etmek (tr) (obsolete)

make a statement

• German: verbreiten (de) (reflexive), auslassen (de) (reflexive)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Greek: ^{(please verify)} ερμηνεύω (el) (erminévo)
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} ceartaigh
• Northern Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} şirove kirin, ^{(please verify)} îzah kirin, ^{(please verify)} fesîh kirin, ^{(please verify)} zelal kirin, ^{(please verify)} ron kirin, ^{(please verify)} şayesandin (ku), ^{(please verify)} şayes kirin, ^{(please verify)} şayes dan, ^{(please verify)} sêwer kirin, ^{(please verify)} bas kirin, ^{(please verify)} qal kirin, ^{(please verify)} vegotin (ku), ^{(please verify)} derbirin (ku), ^{(please verify)} wesf dan, ^{(please verify)} saloxandin (ku), ^{(please verify)} salox kirin, ^{(please verify)} teswîr kirin, ^{(please verify)} tesewir kirin
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} açımlamak (tr)

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “expound”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)