Dictionary

exposition en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• (US) audio
• /ɛkspəˈzɪʃən/

Etymology

From Middle English exposicioun, from Old French esposicion, from Latin expositiō, from expōnere (“to put forth”). The sense meaning "exhibition" is a later semantic loan from French exposition.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The action of exposing something to something, such as skin to the sunlight.
2. (countable, uncountable) The act or process of declaring or describing something through either speech or writing, in nonfiction or in fiction; the portions and aspects of a piece of writing that exist mainly to describe or explain a set of things (such as, in fiction, the setting, characters and other non-plot elements).
   • My reviewer said she couldn't picture the setting for my story, so I'm improving the exposition.
   • This essay has too much exposition in it.
   • The articles published were all by professed Marxists, but in the first few years readers were given sound information on contemporary philosophy outside Russia, for example, that of Husserl, and the general level of exposition was a great deal higher than in the standard philosophical writings of later years. 1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume III: The Breakdown, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozkład (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 64:
3. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) The act of expulsion, or being expelled, from a place.
4. (countable, uncountable) An exhibition, especially of goods, artwork or cultural displays to the public.
   • The first prototype was unveiled at an exposition.
5. (countable, uncountable) An essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail.
   • I turned my research into an exposition on the traditional music of Borneo.
6. (countable, uncountable) An opening section in fiction, in which background information about the characters, events or setting is conveyed.
7. (countable, uncountable) The opening section of a movement in sonata form; the opening section of a fugue.
8. (countable, uncountable) The abandonment of an unwanted child.

Forms

Coordinates

treatise · disquisition · dissertation

Deriveds

expositional · counterexposition · expositionary · sexposition · expo · misexposition

Hypernyms

explanation

Relateds

explanation · exposit · expositive · exposé · exegesis · expository

Translations (91)

ro expoziție (action of putting something out to public view) · tr yorum (essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail) · sv utställning (action of putting something out to public view) · sv utläggning (essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail) · mk изложување (essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail) · vi sự phơi bày (action of putting something out to public view) · el έκθεση (action of declaring or describing) · ro expunere (essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail) · fi esitelmä (essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail) · ar مَعْرِض (action of putting something out to public view) · ja 博覧会 (action of putting something out to public view) · ro expunere (action of putting something out to public view) · fi esittely (fiction: opening section) · nl tentoonstelling (action of putting something out to public view) · el έκθεση (action of exposing) · it esposizione (action of putting something out to public view) · fi esittely (action of exposing) · tr yorumlama (action of declaring or describing) · wa espôzucion (action of putting something out to public view) · sh експозиција (music: opening section of a fugue) · cs výklad (essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail) · el έκθεση (action of putting something out to public view) · ja 提示部 (music: opening section of a fugue) · el έκθεση (essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail) · uk ви́ставка (action of putting something out to public view) · be вы́стаўка (action of putting something out to public view) · ga ceartú (action of declaring or describing) · ka ექსპოზიცია (fiction: opening section) · fi esittely (music: opening section of a fugue) · hu kiállítás (action of putting something out to public view) · bg изло́жба (action of putting something out to public view) · sv redogörelse (essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail) · th งานแสดง (action of putting something out to public view) · fi altistaminen (action of exposing) · cmn 博覽會 /博览会 (action of putting something out to public view) · es exposición (exhibition, especially of goods, artwork or cultural displays to the public) · de Einführung (fiction: opening section) · ko 박람회 (action of putting something out to public view) · ka გამოფენა (action of putting something out to public view) · fr exposition (action of putting something out to public view) · tr serim (action of declaring or describing) · mk излагање (essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail) · fi esittely (action of declaring or describing) · bg експози́ция (action of exposing) · sh ѝзложба (action of putting something out to public view) · pl wykład (fiction: opening section) · sh ìzložba (action of putting something out to public view) · pl wystawa (action of putting something out to public view) · sv redogörelse (action of declaring or describing) · ru экспози́ция (action of putting something out to public view) · kk мазмұндама (essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail) · eo ekspozicio (action of putting something out to public view) · sk výstava (action of putting something out to public view) · bg коментар (essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail) · cmn 呈示部 (music: opening section of a fugue) · tr giriş (fiction: opening section) · ka ექსპოზიცია (action of putting something out to public view) · be выста́ва (action of putting something out to public view) · pt exposição (action of putting something out to public view) · et ekspositsioon (action of putting something out to public view) · be экспазі́цыя (action of putting something out to public view) · tr teşhir (action of putting something out to public view) · el επίδειξη (action of putting something out to public view) · de Ausstellung (action of putting something out to public view) · bn বয়ান (essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail) · de Exposition (action of putting something out to public view) · ota نمایش (action of putting something out to public view) · sl razstava (action of putting something out to public view) · fi esittely (action of putting something out to public view) · bn বয়ান (action of declaring or describing) · hi प्रतिपादन (action of declaring or describing) · sl ekspozicija (music: opening section of a fugue) · sh излагање теме (music: opening section of a fugue) · tr sergileme (action of putting something out to public view) · bg изла́гане (action of exposing) · uk експози́ція (action of putting something out to public view) · vi sự phơi (action of putting something out to public view) · it mostra (action of putting something out to public view) · hi व्याख्या (essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail) · ru вы́ставка (action of putting something out to public view) · nb utstilling (action of putting something out to public view) · hi प्रदर्शनी (action of putting something out to public view) · mk изложба (action of putting something out to public view) · io expozo (action of putting something out to public view) · tr beyan (action of declaring or describing) · gl exposición (action of putting something out to public view) · bg експози́ция (action of putting something out to public view) · es exposición (action of putting something out to public view) · no utstilling (action of putting something out to public view) · bg описание (action of declaring or describing) · cs výstava (action of putting something out to public view)