explicate

[ek-spli-keyt]

verb (used with object)

explicated, explicating 

1. to make plain or clear; explain; interpret.

2. to develop (a principle, theory, etc.).

explicate

/ ɪkˈsplɪkətərɪ, -trɪ, ɪkˈsplɪkətɪv, ˈɛksplɪˌkeɪt /

verb

1. to make clear or explicit; explain

2. to formulate or develop (a theory, hypothesis, etc)

Other Word Forms

• explicative adjective
• explicator noun
• reexplicate verb (used with object)
• unexplicated adjective
• well-explicated adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of explicate¹

1525–35; < Latin explicātus unfolded, set forth, past participle of explicāre, equivalent to ex- ex- ¹ + plicāre to fold; -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of explicate¹

C16: from Latin explicāre to unfold, from plicāre to fold

Example Sentences

In his 1998 book “Paradise Lost,” Schrag sought not simply to foretell the region’s future, but to explicate how its future foretold what was in store for the country as a whole.

From Los Angeles Times

Each of the songs explicates a place and time of an incident or an idea in the lives of the protagonists.

From Los Angeles Times

The attorney continued by likening the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection to the "culmination of a certification dispute," before explicating the domino effect theory of the GOP's efforts to hinder the democratic electoral process.

From Salon

We chronicle, explicate, elucidate and constantly “re-adjudicate” historical events and personages.

From Salon

ABC took that step after Rasmussen failed to respond suitably to a questionnaire 538 submitted asking Rasmussen to explicate its polling methodology.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• amplify 
• elucidate 
• expound 
• untangle