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explain

verb
ik-SPLAYN/ɪkˈspleɪn/

Formsexplains, explaining, explained

5 meanings of explain

Practice

  1. 1
    spell outverbtransitive
    To make something clear and easy to understand by describing it or giving details.

    She explained the procedure step by step so everyone could follow along.

    The guide will explain how the ancient temple was constructed.

    UsageSay explain something to someone (not incorrect: explain me). It also follows reported words: "Nobody would miss them," he explained.

    Note

    The core sense still carries its Latin picture: explanō meant "to flatten, make level," from planus, the root of plain and plane, with esplanade as a cousin. To explain is to smooth a matter out until it lies plain.

  2. 2
    verbtransitive
    To account for something by saying why it happened or what caused or justifies it.

    She explained her absence by pointing to the long train delay.

    The manager will explain the reasons behind the recent budget cuts.

    UsageOften with why or how: explain why you were late. The listener takes to: explain your decision to the team.

    Similarjustify, excuse, rationalize

    Note

    Here a person gives the reason, often to justify a choice or an absence. When a fact or cause does the accounting by itself, as in rising rents explain the drop, see a cause accounting for something. Where the "make clear" meaning makes something understood, this one says why it happened.

  3. 3
    account forverbtransitive
    Of a fact or situation, to account for something by being its cause or reason.

    Rising rents largely explain the drop in the number of young families living downtown.

    Her years living abroad explained her easy command of three languages.

    UsageOften softened with largely, partly or in part; in speech, that explains it and which explains why.

    Note

    Here the subject is a fact rather than a person: rents explain a drop, years abroad explain a skill. Compare giving the reason, where someone does the explaining.

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    verbobsolete
    To unfold something or spread it open so that it becomes visible.
    Note

    John Evelyn, writing to the Royal Society in 1684 about the damage the winter had done to his gardens, describes a horse-chestnut "ready to explain its leaf": the bud opening out what was folded inside. Unlike the flattening sense, the stress here falls on revealing something that was closed up. The sense is obsolete, and a modern writer would say unfold or open.

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • John Evelyn wrote to the Royal Society in 1684 about winter damage to his gardens. en.wiktionary.org
    • Evelyn described a horse-chestnut as “ready to explain its leaf”. en.wiktionary.org
    • The historical sense means to unfold or reveal something and is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 5
    verbobsolete
    To flatten something or smooth out the wrinkles and irregularities of its surface.
    Note

    The literal meaning, now lost: flattening a surface, which is exactly what the Latin source meant before the "make clear" sense turned it into a figure of speech. A modern reader would take "explained the fabric" as talk about cloth, not a smoothing hand. In current writing, use flatten or smooth out; this sense matters only for reading older texts.

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

Practice

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Origin

Latin planus ("level, plain") gave planō ("I flatten, make level"), and with ex- ("out") that became explanō ("I flatten, spread out, make plain or clear"). The word passed through Old French explaner into Middle English explanen and took over from the Old English reċċan.