elucidate

English

Etymology

From Late Latin ēlūcidātus, perfect passive participle of ēlūcidō (“clarify”), from Latin ex- and lūcidus (“clear”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈluː.sɪ.deɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /iˈluː.sɪ.deɪt/, enPR: ĭ-lo͞o'-sĭ-dāt

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To make clear; to clarify; to shed light upon.

   Synonyms: explicate, illuminate

   • 1803 (date written), [Jane Austen], chapter XIII, in Northanger Abbey; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC:

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

   • 1960 April 4, “Medicine: Unmasking the Brain”, in Time:

     [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.

   • 1961 July, “New reading on railways: The Locomotives of the South Eastern & Chatham Railway, by D. L. Bradley”, in Trains Illustrated, page vii:

     Another appendix elucidates the S.E.C.R. headcode system.

   • 2004 April 13, David Bernstein, “Philosophy Hitches a Ride With ‘The Sopranos’”, in New York Times, 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.

Derived terms

• elucidation
• elucidative
• elucidator
• elucidatory

 

Related terms

• lucid
• lucidity

 

Translations

make clear

• Bulgarian: разяснявам (bg) (razjasnjavam)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 闡明／阐明 (zin² ming⁴), 說明／说明 (syut³ ming⁴), 解釋／解释 (gaai² sik¹), 闡釋／阐释 (zin² sik¹)

  Mandarin: 闡明／阐明 (zh) (chǎnmíng), 說明／说明 (zh) (shuōmíng), 解釋／解释 (zh) (jiěshì)

• Czech: ozřejmit
• Danish: uddybe
• Dutch: verduidelijken (nl), verklaren (nl), uitleggen (nl), verhelderen (nl), clarificeren
• Finnish: valaista (fi), havainnollistaa (fi), selventää (fi)
• French: élucider (fr), expliquer (fr)
• German: erläutern (de), verdeutlichen (de), erklären (de)
• Hebrew: ביאר \ בֵּאֵר‎ (be'ér), פירש \ פֵּרֵשׁ‎ (perésh)
• Hungarian: megvilágít (hu)
• Italian: chiarire (it), delucidare (it)
• Maori: whakapūaho, whakamahuki, whakamārama, whakamāori
• Norwegian: klargjøre
• Persian: روشن کردن‎ (fa) (rovšan kardan)
• Polish: objaśniać (pl), wyjaśniać (pl), wyświetlać (pl)
• Portuguese: elucidar (pt), esclarecer (pt)
• Quechua: chiqaqchay
• Russian: разъясня́ть (ru) impf (razʺjasnjátʹ)
• Spanish: dilucidar (es), elucidar (es)
• Swedish: klargöra (sv), förklara (sv), kasta ljus över (sv), belysa (sv)

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

elucidate

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

Etymology 2

Participle

elucidate f pl

1. feminine plural of elucidato

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /eː.luː.kiˈdaː.te/, [eːɫ̪uːkɪˈd̪äːt̪ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /e.lu.t͡ʃiˈda.te/, [elut͡ʃiˈd̪äːt̪e]

Verb

ēlūcidāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of ēlūcidō

Spanish

Verb

elucidate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of elucidar combined with te