explain
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explain
- /ɪkˈspleɪn/
- /ɛkˈspleɪn/
Rhymes with -eɪn
Where it comes from
From Middle English explanen, from Old French explaner, from Latin explanō (“to flatten, spread out, make plain or clear, explain”), from ex- (“out”) + planō (“to flatten, make level”), from planus (“level, plain”); see plain and plane. Compare esplanade, splanade. Displaced Old English reċċan.
verb explains · explaining · explained · explane
- To make plain, manifest, or intelligible; to clear of obscurity; to illustrate the meaning of. The issue was explained to the governor in detail.
- To give the reason for, justification for, or cause of. It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next; […].
- To make flat, smooth out.
- To unfold or make visible. April 14, 1684, John Evelyn, a letter sent to the Royal Society concerning the damage done to his gardens by the preceding winter The horse-chestnut is […] ready to explain its leaf.
- To make something plain or intelligible. She tried to explain but he wouldn’t listen.
Similar: absolve, clarify, describe, direct, disclose, explain, illustrate, inform, instruct, justify, specify, teach
