Etymologically
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expliquer

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɛks.pli.ke/[1]
  • IPA: /ɛk.spli.ke/[1]
  • IPA: /ɛs.pli.ke/[1]

Forms

expliquer[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin explicō (“to unroll, unfold; to set out clearly”), formed from ex-, reversing the action, and plicō (“to fold”).[2][3][4][5][6] “Plicō” is an intensive of plectō (“to plait, twine”).[3] It is a learned word: the inherited form is “esployer”, now éployer, of which it is a doublet.[7][1]

Compare Spanish explicar and Italian esplicare.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first known use, the reflexive soi expliquer in a 14th-century chronicle of Flanders, is obscure and may mean “to develop”; about 1450 it means “to make clear” in the Mystère du Viel Testament.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century it meant “to make something understood by setting it out”, and Bloch and Wartburg note that the literal “to unfold” was still used then.[3][4] S'expliquer “to become understandable” is in Montaigne (1580); “to state one's thoughts” and “to give reasons” are in Corneille (1651), and “to clear up a misunderstanding” from 1662.[3] The school sense, translating or commenting on a text, belongs to the same period.[3][8] Related borrowings are explication (1322), explicable (1554) and explicite (1488); explicatif (1587) and expliciter (1870) were formed in French.[4]

Timeline

  • 14th century – Soi expliquer in a chronicle of Flanders.[2]
  • 1322 – Explication.[4]
  • c. 1450 – “To make clear”.[2]
  • 1580 – S'expliquer in Montaigne.[3]
  • 1651 – “To state one's thoughts”, in Corneille.[3]
  • 1870 – Expliciter.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To explain, make clear: expliquer un problème.[8][1]
  2. To set out in detail: expliquer ses projets.[9][8]
  3. To account for: cela explique son retard.[8]
  4. To comment on (a text) in class: expliquer un poème.[8]
  5. S'expliquer: to explain oneself; to have it out; to be understandable.[3]

Word family

  • explicatif
  • inexpliqué
  • expliciter
  • explication
  • explicable
  • inexplicable
  • explicite
  • plier
  • éployer
  • English explicate

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 310b
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse