explica

Forms

explica (third-person singular present explică, past participle explicat) 1st conjugation^[1] The older form esplica appears in Poteca's writing of 1829: „Esplicând fundament (temeiu) al culturii şi al lucrării cânepei” “explaining the foundation of the growing and working of hemp”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin explicō (“to unfold, disentangle”), and also borrowed from French expliquer (“to explain”).^{[3][2][4][5][1]} DELR and the DLR also name Italian esplicare;^[3][2] MDA2, DEX and Wiktionary give Latin and French, and Tiktin a New Latin source, perhaps through another language.^{[3][2][4][5][1][6]} The verb is formed from Latin ex- + plicō (“to fold”).^[3][7] The French verb is a learned loan of the 14th century from the Latin.^[7]

The earliest form was explicui, and Transylvania also had explicălui, which DELR traces through Hungarian explikál, itself from Latin.^[3] Tiktin also records an obsolete explițirui.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is the form explicui in Dimitrie Cantemir's Hronicul of 1717–1723; the form explica follows in 1799, in Iorgovici's Observații de limba rumânească, the first record Tiktin and the DLR give.^[3][6][2] The sense was “to make clear, explain”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From “to make clear” the verb came to mean to state the causes of something, to justify, to teach a lesson, and, reflexively, to justify oneself or to clear up a quarrel with someone.^[3][5] The family grew with loans of the same Latin and French words: explicație from 1779, explicativ from 1829, explicabil from 1848 and inexplicabil from 1846.^[3] Old variants esplica and splica were usual in the 19th century.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1717–1723 – explicui in Cantemir's Hronicul.^[3]
• 1779 – explicație “explanation”.^[3]
• 1799 – explica in Iorgovici.^[3][6][2]
• 1829 – explicativ and esplicând in Poteca.^[3][2]
• 1846 – inesplicabil “inexplicable” in Laurian.^[3]
• 1848 – esplicabil in Negulici.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To explain, make easier to understand; to clarify: profesorul a explicat lecția “the teacher explained the lesson”; to teach a lesson.^[5][4][1]
2. Of a law or principle, to account for a phenomenon or property.^[5][4]
3. (reflexive) To justify one's acts or words; to understand: nu-mi explic de ce “I can't understand why”; to have it out with someone.^[5][8]

Word family

• explicabil
• explicativ
• explicație
• inexplicabil

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. explica
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. explica
4. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 862
5. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 371
6. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. explica
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. explica