Library / English Dictionary

EXPLICATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Elaborate, as of theories and hypotheses

Example:

Could you develop the ideas in your thesis

Synonyms:

develop; explicate; formulate

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "explicate" is one way to...):

conjecture; hypothecate; hypothesise; hypothesize; speculate; suppose; theorise; theorize (to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds)

Verb group:

develop (elaborate by the unfolding of a musical idea and by the working out of the rhythmic and harmonic changes in the theme)

acquire; develop; evolve (gain through experience)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "explicate"):

mature (develop and work out fully in one's mind)

redevelop; reformulate (formulate or develop again, of an improved theory or hypothesis)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

explication (a detailed explanation of the meaning of something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make plain and comprehensible

Example:

He explained the laws of physics to his students

Synonyms:

explain; explicate

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "explicate" is one way to...):

inform (impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "explicate"):

interpret; rede (give an interpretation or explanation to)

account for (give reasons for)

naturalize (explain with reference to nature)

clarify; clear up; elucidate (make clear and (more) comprehensible)

comment (explain or interpret something)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue explicate the movie

Derivation:

explication (a detailed explanation of the meaning of something)

explication (the act of making clear or removing obscurity from the meaning of a word or symbol or expression etc.)

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