Dictionary

explain en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ɪkˈspleɪn/
• /ɛkˈspleɪn/

Etymology

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.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To make plain, manifest, or intelligible; to clear of obscurity; to illustrate the meaning of.
   • The boy became volubly friendly and bubbling over with unexpected humour and high spirits. He tried to persuade Cicely to stay away from the ball-room for a fourth dance. Nobody would miss them, he explained. 1909 September 9, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], “A Court Ball”, in The Squire’s Daughter, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC, page 9:
   • He concisely explains that Whig histories tend to "praise revolutions [for history of science, we could read novelties, ideas or individuals] provided they have been successful, emphasise certain principles of progress in the past and produce a story which is the ratification if not the glorification of the present". 2012 October 3, Rebekah Higgitt, “Why whiggish won't do”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • The issue was explained to the governor in detail.
   • 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. 2012 March 14, Brian Hayes, “Pixels or Perish”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 106:
2. (transitive) 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; […]. 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
3. (obsolete) To make flat, smooth out.
4. (obsolete) 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.
5. (intransitive) To make something plain or intelligible.
   • It is easy to modify the account to take this into account, by explaining not just in terms of a set of reasons but in terms of a set of reason–weight pairs. 2012, Alexander R. Pruss, “The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument”, in William Lane Craig, J. P. Moreland, editors, The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology, page 56:
   • She tried to explain but he wouldn’t listen.
   • Like their Western counterparts, local media engages in shorthand - it reports rather than explains. 2019 July 9, Patrick Gathara, “The problem is not 'negative' Western media coverage of Africa”, in Al Jazeera English:

Forms

Antonyms

obscure

Deriveds

unexplainable · -splain · Westsplaining · underexplain · explainability · explainer · explainify · weedsplain · explainee · explanification · Westsplain · afore-explained · please explain · retain and explain · reexplain · dexify · explainingly · explain away · overexplain · Westplainer · mansplain · misexplain · explainable · unexplained · re-explain

Hypernyms

communicate

Relateds

explanation · explanatory · explanatorily

Synonyms

illustrate · disclose · upsolve · absolve · instruct · elaborate (give a sufficiently detailed report) · direct · explain · specify · expound (give a sufficiently detailed report) · describe · teach · unravel · recce (give a sufficiently detailed report) · bring home (give a sufficiently detailed report) · account for (give a sufficiently detailed report) · elucidate (give a sufficiently detailed report) · inform · untangle · justify · clarify

Translations (191)

ht eksplike (to make intelligible) · arz فهم (to make intelligible) · ru опра́вдывать (excuse) · ia explicar (to make intelligible) · mk објасни (to make intelligible) · kmr şayes dan (to make intelligible) · yue 解釋 /解释 (to make intelligible) · hi समझाना (to make intelligible) · pt explicar (to make intelligible) · it spiegare (to make intelligible) · ru объясни́ть (to make intelligible) · uz izohlamoq (to make intelligible) · it motivare (excuse) · rup exiyisescu (to make intelligible) · km បំភ្លឺ (to make intelligible) · da forklare (to make intelligible) · chk awewe (to make intelligible) · kmr şirove kirin (to make intelligible) · fa توضیح دادن (to make intelligible) · nb forklare (to make intelligible) · nl verklaren (excuse) · hu magyaráz (excuse) · mn тайлбарлах (to make intelligible) · it illustrare (to make intelligible) · ka ახსნა (to make intelligible) · th แจง (to make intelligible) · ca explicar (to make intelligible) · vec spiegar (to make intelligible) · io explikar (to make intelligible) · wa espliker (to make intelligible) · ar أَبَانَ (to make intelligible) · de erläutern (to make intelligible) · be аб'ясьні́ць (to make intelligible) · lt aiškinti (to make intelligible) · mfe explike (to make intelligible) · et selgitama (to make intelligible) · sk vysvetliť (to make intelligible) · km សាធក (to make intelligible) · ms menjelaskan (to make intelligible) · tr izah etmek (to make intelligible) · cmn 說明 /说明 (to make intelligible) · kmr teswîr kirin (to make intelligible) · th อธิบาย (to make intelligible) · kmr wesf dan (to make intelligible) · es explicar (to make intelligible) · ar فَسَّرَ (to make intelligible) · te వివరించు (to make intelligible) · sh обја̀снити (to make intelligible) · qu alayrichiy (to make intelligible) · yi דערקלערן (to make intelligible) · sh обја̀снити (excuse) · de erklären (to make intelligible) · kmr salox kirin (to make intelligible) · nrf explyitchi (to make intelligible) · fr justifier (excuse) · mk објаснува (to make intelligible) · km បន្លែ (to make intelligible) · az izah etmək (to make intelligible) · kmr vegotin (to make intelligible) · cs vysvětlit (to make intelligible) · fi selittää (to make intelligible) · grc ἑρμηνεύω (to make intelligible) · hu indokol (excuse) · ug چۈشەندۈرمەك (to make intelligible) · ang reċċan (to make intelligible) · got 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐌺𐌴𐌹𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (to make intelligible) · bg давам обяснения (excuse) · my လင်း (to make intelligible) · fa شرح دادن (to make intelligible) · ast esplicar (to make intelligible) · it scusarsi (excuse) · cy egluro (to make intelligible) · ko 설명하다 (to make intelligible) · fi selittää (excuse) · km ពន្យល់ (to make intelligible) · hu kifejt (to make intelligible) · alt чечип айдар (to make intelligible) · gl explicar (to make intelligible) · ar شَرَحَ (to make intelligible) · la explānō (to make intelligible) · vi giải thích (to make intelligible) · izh toimittaa (to make intelligible) · bg обясня́вам (to make intelligible) · grc ἐξηγέομαι (to make intelligible) · cmn 解釋 /解释 (to make intelligible) · kk түсіндіру (to make intelligible) · pl objaśniać (to make intelligible) · kmr şayesandin (to make intelligible) · cs vysvětlit (excuse) · kmr ron kirin (to make intelligible) · uk поясня́ти (to make intelligible) · nl toelichten (to make intelligible) · my ဖြေရှင်း (to make intelligible) · eu azaldu (to make intelligible) · kmr sêwer kirin (to make intelligible) · eo klarigi (to make intelligible) · es explicar (excuse) · yi מסביר זײַן (to make intelligible) · txb ṣärp- (to make intelligible) · uz tushuntirmoq (to make intelligible) · cmn 闡釋 /阐释 (to make intelligible) · sh objàsniti (excuse) · uk поя́снювати (to make intelligible) · kmr tesewir kirin (to make intelligible) · sh расвијетлити (excuse) · tt аңлатырга (to make intelligible) · ajp شرح (to make intelligible) · it chiosare (to make intelligible) · el εξηγώ (to make intelligible) · ky түшүндүрүү (to make intelligible) · id menjelaskan (to make intelligible) · sl pojasniti (to make intelligible) · ur سمجھانا (to make intelligible) · kmr zelal kirin (to make intelligible) · kmr bas kirin (to make intelligible) · oc explicar (to make intelligible) · sq shpjegoj (to make intelligible) · lt paaiškinti (to make intelligible) · ja 教える (to make intelligible) · my ဖွင့် (to make intelligible) · ko 변명하다 (excuse) · hu elmagyaráz (to make intelligible) · kmr şayes kirin (to make intelligible) · ru объясня́ть (to make intelligible) · kmr qal kirin (to make intelligible) · lv skaidrot (to make intelligible) · tk düşündirmek (to make intelligible) · unm wëntamasi (to make intelligible) · nl uitleggen (to make intelligible) · kmr îzah kirin (to make intelligible) · nl verklaren (to make intelligible) · pl wyjaśniać (to make intelligible) · mi whakamārama (to make intelligible) · bn ভাষ্য করা (to make intelligible) · kmr fesîh kirin (to make intelligible) · ajp فهّم (to make intelligible) · shn သပ်းလႅင်း (to make intelligible) · fr expliquer (to make intelligible) · de erklären (excuse) · ca explicar (excuse) · he הִסְבִּיר (to make intelligible) · es explanar (to make intelligible) · tr açıklamak (to make intelligible) · kmr derbirin (to make intelligible) · be растлума́чыць (to make intelligible) · pl wyjaśnić (to make intelligible) · be тлума́чыць (to make intelligible) · pt explicitar (to make intelligible) · hy բացատրել (to make intelligible) · gl explicar (excuse) · sh objàsniti (to make intelligible) · ro explica (to make intelligible) · eo pravigi (excuse) · ja 説明する (to make intelligible) · hu megmagyaráz (to make intelligible) · th นิยาม (to make intelligible) · hu magyaráz (to make intelligible) · kmr saloxandin (to make intelligible) · sv förklara (to make intelligible) · pt explicar (excuse) · mwl splicar (to make intelligible) · mi whakamahuki (to make intelligible) · wa spliker (to make intelligible) · et seletama (to make intelligible) · ps تشريح کول (to make intelligible) · hu igazol (excuse) · uk поясни́ти (to make intelligible) · ru оправда́ть (excuse) · my ရှင်းပြ (to make intelligible) · bn বোঝান (to make intelligible) · tg шарҳ додан (to make intelligible) · ta விளக்கு (to make intelligible) · ka განმარტება (to make intelligible) · pt explanar (to make intelligible) · fy útlizze (to make intelligible) · az açıqlamaq (to make intelligible) · pl objaśnić (to make intelligible) · is útskýra (to make intelligible) · alt учур айдар (to make intelligible) · fi selostaa (to make intelligible) · cs vysvětlovat (to make intelligible) · tg эзоҳ додан (to make intelligible) · th ชี้แจง (to make intelligible) · be аб'ясьня́ць (to make intelligible) · sh rasvijetliti (excuse) · az başa salmaq (to make intelligible) · it giustificare (excuse) · ga mínigh (to make intelligible) · lo ອະທິບາຍ (to make intelligible) · sv förklara (excuse) · la explicō (to make intelligible)