Etymologically
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explanatory

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɪkˈsplæn.ə.t(ə)ɹi/, /ɛkˈsplæn.ə.t(ə)ɹi/[1]
  • US: /ɪkˈsplæn.ə.t(ɔː.)ɹi/, /ɛkˈsplæn.ə.t(ɔː.)ɹi/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin explānātōrius (“having to do with an explanation”), recorded in the 5th century,[2][3][4][5] from explānātus, the past participle of explānō (“to make plain or clear”), the source of explain, with the suffix -ōrius, English -ory.[2][4][5] Etymonline allows that it may instead have been modelled on the Latin word,[3] and Johnson (1755) simply derived it from explain.[6] The OED compares the earlier adjective explanative.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Serving or helping to explain something; containing an explanation: first recorded in 1600, in W. Fulbecke's guide to the study of law.[2] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1618,[5] Etymonline to the 1610s,[3] and Dictionary.com to 1610–20.[7]

Semantic evolution

The sense has changed little.[2][8] Johnson (1755) defined it as containing explanation, quoting Swift on explanatory notes.[6] From 1694 it was also used of a person ready to explain, a use the OED now calls rare,[2] though the Shorter Oxford illustrates it with Dickens.[8] A rare noun, an explanation, is recorded from 1650.[2]

Timeline

  • 1600 – serving to explain.[2] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1618.[5]
  • 1650 – noun, an explanation (rare).[2]
  • 1694 – of a person, disposed to explain.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Serving or meant to explain something: The chart came with a short explanatory note.[5][9][2]
  2. Of a person, inclined to give explanations.[5][8][2]

Word family

  • explanatorily
  • nonexplanatory
  • unexplanatory
  • self-explanatory

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins