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elucidate

UK/ɪˈl(j)uːsɪdeɪt/US/əˈlusəˌdeɪt/
verbC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,664 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: elucidated, elucidating, elucidates

To elucidate is to make something clear by explaining it. Elucidate the point, could you elucidate, elucidate the mechanism.

It is formal and belongs to lectures and papers, and asking somebody to elucidate is a polite way of saying that made no sense. The Latin means to bring into the light.

Definitions of elucidate

  1. 1verbelucidateTo make something clear by explaining it.C1

    “The professor drew a diagram to elucidate the difficult theory.”

elucidate is an explaining.

Where it comes from

Latin elucidare means to make light, from ex plus lucidus, clear or bright.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *lewk- — bright; to see; to shine

  2. Latin

    ēlūcidātus

  3. English, today

    elucidate

Built from

  • ēlūcidō · Latin — to lighten, enlighten

From Latin ēlūcidātus, perfect passive participle of ēlūcidō (“to lighten, enlighten”) (see -ate), from ē(x)- + lūcidus + -ō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European lewk- (“bright; to see; to shine”). Compare French élucider.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

elucidate in the wild

  • Aksel Sandemose was a Danish-Norwegian writer whose works frequently elucidate the theme that the repressions of society lead to violence.

    Aksel Sandemose

  • Zamecnik pioneered the in vitro synthesis of proteins and helped elucidate the way cells generate proteins.

    Paul Zamecnik

  • The treatises in Toras Chaim long and complex, and elucidate of concepts discussed in Likutei Torah/Torah Or.

    Toras Chaim (Chabad)

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.