transitive verb
-·cat·ed, -·cat·ing to make clear or explicit (something obscure or implied); explain fully
Origin of explicate
from Classical Latin explicatus, past participle of explicare, to unfold from ex-, out + plicare, to fold: see flax
verb
Explicate is defined as to analyze something to discover its meaning, or to develop something in further detail.
Analyzing a book to discover its meaning is an example of a time when you explicate.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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"explicate." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 20 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Explicate>.
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explicate. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Explicate
explicate
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"explicate." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 20 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Explicate>.
APA Style
explicate. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Explicate
explicate
transitive verb
ex·pli·cat·ed, ex·pli·cat·ing, ex·pli·catesTo make clear the meaning of; explain. See Synonyms at explain.
Origin of explicate
Latin explicāre explicāt- to unfold, explain ex- ex- plicāre to fold ; see plek- in Indo-European roots.Related Forms:
- ex′pli·ca′tion
noun
- ex′pli·ca′tor
noun
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"explicate." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 20 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Explicate>.
APA Style
explicate. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Explicate
Verb
(third-person singular simple present explicates, present participle explicating, simple past and past participle explicated)
- To explain meticulously or in great detail; to elucidate; to analyze.
- My homework is to explicate a poem.
Adjective
(comparative more explicate, superlative most explicate)
- (obsolete) Evolved; unfolded.
Origin
From Latin explicāre, present active infinitive of explicō (“unfold", "to explain”).
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"explicate." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 20 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Explicate>.
APA Style
explicate. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Explicate
Sentence Examples
- There are some areas of life that rationalism cannot explicate.
- In 1674, at the age of eighty-six, he published his Principia et problemata aliquot geometrica, ante desperata nunc breviter explicate et demonstrate (L.