exploratory

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin explōrātōrius (“of or belonging to scouts”),^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} from explōrātor (“scout”),^[3] or from explōrātus, the past participle of explōrō (“to reconnoitre, investigate”), with the suffix -ōrius.^[2][5] Middle French had a rare exploratoire from 1380, also from Latin.^[2] The medical sense follows French exploratrice (1824).^[2] The Latin verb is perhaps formed from ex- and plōrō (“to cry out, weep”): ancient writers said that it first meant to scout a hunting ground for game by shouting.^[2][3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Built or used for exploring or observing the surrounding land, of a lookout structure: before 1460, in Knyghthode and Bataile.^[2] Etymonline dates it to the mid-15th century as "intended for exploration or scouting".^[3]

Semantic evolution

After its first, military use the word spread in the 17th century to anything undertaken to examine or discover, and so to what is preliminary or provisional (1620), and to what relates to exploration in general (1620).^[2][4] Johnson (1755) defined it simply as "searching; examining".^[9] It was also used of people inclined to explore, from Chapman's Hymn to Hermes (about 1624), and of those charged with exploring (1837, Carlyle).^[2] In medicine an exploratory operation is one done to find out what is wrong (1828),^[2][4] and the noun exploratory has meant such an operation since 1917.^[2] On the model of observatory, it has also named a hands-on science centre since 1982.^[2] Etymonline notes the rival forms explorative (1738) and explorational (1889).^[3]

Timeline

• before 1460 – built for exploring or observing the surroundings.^[2][3]
• 1620 – undertaken for exploration or discovery; preliminary; relating to exploration.^[2][5]
• c. 1624 – inclined to explore, curious.^[2]
• 1828 – of a surgical procedure, done to examine a part of the body.^[2]
• 1837 – charged with exploration.^[2]
• 1917 – noun, an exploratory operation.^[2]
• 1982 – noun, a hands-on science centre.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of, relating to, or done for the purpose of exploration or investigation: an exploratory borehole off the coast.^[5][4][2]
2. Preliminary; meant to find out the main facts or possibilities before anything is decided: exploratory talks between the parties.^[5][2]
3. (medicine) Of a surgical or endoscopic procedure, done to examine a part of the body, especially to help diagnosis.^[5][2][4]
4. Inclined to explore; curious.^[2][4]

Noun

1. An exploratory operation.^[2]
2. A hands-on science centre; an exploratorium.^[2][4]

Word family

• nonexploratory
• unexploratory

Related words

• explore
• exploration
• explorer
• explorative
• deplore
• implore

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 m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.