elaborate

English

Etymology

1575, from Late Latin ēlabōrātus (“worked out”), past participle of ēlabōrō (“to work out”), from ē- (“out, forth, fully”) + labor (“work, toil, exertion”). More at e-, labour.

Pronunciation

• Adjective: ĭlă'bərət, IPA^(key): /ɪˈlæbəɹət/

  • audio (US)

    (file)

• Verb: ĭlă'bərāt, IPA^(key): /ɪˈlæbəɹeɪt/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

Adjective

elaborate (comparative more elaborate, superlative most elaborate)

1. Complex, detailed, or sophisticated.

   After reading a long, elaborate description, I was impressed but no wiser.

2. Intricate, fancy, flashy, or showy.

   I stared for hours at the elaborate pattern in the rug.

   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:

     The house was a big elaborate limestone affair, evidently new. Winter sunshine sparkled on lace-hung casement, on glass marquise, and the burnished bronze foliations of grille and door.

Derived terms

• overelaborate

Translations

detailed

• Arabic: مُفَصَّل‎ (mufaṣṣal)
• Bulgarian: сложен (bg) (složen), подробен (bg) (podroben)
• Chinese: 详尽的, 复杂的
• Danish: detaljeret
• Dutch: gedetailleerd (nl), diepgaand (nl)
• Estonian: üksikasjalik, detailne
• Finnish: yksityiskohtainen (fi), perusteellinen (fi)
• Galician: detallado
• German: ausführlich (de), durchdacht (de)
• Hungarian: mélyreható (hu), alaposan kidolgozott
• Icelandic: ítarlegur (is)
• Italian: elaborato (it), dettagliato (it)
• Manx: yl-chast
• Polish: drobiazgowy (pl)
• Portuguese: detalhado (pt)
• Russian: доскона́льный (ru) (doskonálʹnyj), тща́тельно сде́ланный (tščátelʹno sdélannyj), скрупулёзный (ru) (skrupuljóznyj), проду́манный (ru) (prodúmannyj), подро́бный (ru) (podróbnyj)
• Swedish: detaljerad (sv)
• Turkish: ayrıntılı (tr), teferruatlı (tr), tafsilatlı (tr), detaylı (tr), mufassal (tr)

flashy or fancy

• Bulgarian: изкусен (bg) (izkusen)
• Dutch: intrigerend (nl)
• Estonian: rikkalik (et)
• Finnish: huoliteltu (fi), taidokas (fi)
• Italian: intricato (it)
• Portuguese: elaborado (pt)
• Russian: замыслова́тый (ru) (zamyslovátyj), иску́сный (ru) (iskúsnyj)

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

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} elaborato (it)

Verb

elaborate (third-person singular simple present elaborates, present participle elaborating, simple past and past participle elaborated)

1. (transitive) to develop in detail or complexity
   • 1871, "Bismarck", All the Year Round (volume 5, page 129)

     […] by the time of the subsequent coronation, when the Prussian king put the crown on his own head in child-like belief of the obsolete doctrine called divine right, the untiring statesman had elaborated his scheme of reform.

   • 2009, Irene Silverblatt, “Foreword”, in Andrew B. Fisher and Matthew D. O'hara, editors, Imperial Subjects: Race and Identity in Colonial Latin America, page xi:

     The notion of blood purity was first elaborated in Europe, where it was used to separate Old Christians from Spain’s New Christians—women and men of Jewish and Muslim origin whose ancestors had converted to Christianity.

2. (intransitive) (sometimes followed by on or upon, and then the object of the preposition) to expand/enlarge in detail

   What do you mean you didn't come home last night? Would you care to elaborate?

   Could you elaborate on the plot for your novel for me?

Derived terms

• elaborated sap

Translations

to give further detail or explanation

• Armenian: մանրամասնել (hy) (manramasnel)
• Bulgarian: изпипвам (bg) (izpipvam), доразвивам (bg) (dorazvivam)
• Catalan: aprofundir (ca)
• Czech: rozvést (cs), rozpracovat
• Dutch: uitweiden (nl)
• Estonian: välja töötama, viimistlema
• Finnish: täsmentää (fi), kehitellä (fi), käsitellä yksityiskohtaisemmin, selittää tarkemmin
• French: approfondir (fr)
• German: ausführen (de)
• Greek: εμβαθύνω (el) (emvathýno)
• Hungarian: kifejt (hu)
• Italian: approfondire (it), dettagliare (it)
• Persian: شرح دادن‎ (fa)
• Polish: rozwinąć (pl)
• Portuguese: argumentar (pt)
• Russian: разраба́тывать (ru) impf (razrabátyvatʹ), развива́ть (ru) impf (razvivátʹ), конкретизи́ровать (ru) impf (konkretizírovatʹ), вдава́ться в подро́бности impf (vdavátʹsja v podróbnosti), уточня́ть (ru) impf (utočnjátʹ)
• Spanish: profundizar (es)
• Swedish: elaborera (sv), utveckla (sv)

---

Ido

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /elaboˈrate/

Verb

elaborate

1. adverbial present passive participle of elaborar

---

Italian

Etymology 1

Adjective

elaborate

1. feminine plural of elaborato

Participle

elaborate f pl

1. feminine plural of elaborato

Etymology 2

Verb

elaborate

1. inflection of elaborare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

---

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /eː.la.boːˈraː.te/, [eːɫ̪äboːˈräːt̪ɛ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /e.la.boˈra.te/, [eläboˈräːt̪e]

Verb

ēlabōrāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of ēlabōrō