explore English · revision 6096

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1585|origins=la plōrāre}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ɪkˈsplɔː/, US /ɪkˈsplɔːr/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|explorer]] and directly [[bor|la|explōrāre|t=to search out, investigate]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) possibly also a back-formation from [[exploration]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The Latin is from [[m|la|ex-|t=out]] and [[m|la|plōrāre|t=to cry out, wail]] (see [[deplore]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Cresswell 2021) and was said to be a hunters' term, to raise a loud cry to drive game from cover;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) de Vaan, quoted by Etymonline, thinks this ancient explanation not unlikely.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To investigate or seek to find out: 1585, in letters of Queen Elizabeth I.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To look into closely or scrutinize is from 1592,^(OED 1989) and to examine a wound by touch, to probe it, from 1767.^(OED 1989) To search or travel through a country or place in quest of discoveries is in the poetry of Beaumont, before 1616,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) the 1610s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The intransitive sense, to go exploring, is from 1816,^(OED 1989) and to search for minerals from 1872.^(OED 1989) ''Explore every avenue'', to investigate every possibility, is a later set phrase.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1585 – to investigate, in Elizabeth I's letters.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1592 – to scrutinize.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1616 – to travel through for discovery.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1767 – to probe a wound.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1816 – to go exploring.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[investigate]] or study systematically.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To travel into or through an unfamiliar place in order to learn about it.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(medicine)'' To examine an organ or part for [[diagnosis]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[explorable]]

+ * [[explorability]]

+ * [[exploringly]]

+ * [[explorer]]

+ * [[reexplore]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[exploration]]

+ * [[explorative]]

+ * [[exploratory]]

+ * [[deplore]]

+ * [[implore]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}