English
explain
Explain comes from Middle English explanen, from Old French explaner, from Latin explānō ‘to flatten, make plain’, from ex- + plānō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplānus‘level, plain’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEplānō‘to flatten’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplānō‘to make plain, explain’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400explaner
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500explanen
- Englishearliest quotation 1909explain
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplānus‘level, plain’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEplānō‘to flatten’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplānō‘to make plain, explain’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400explaner
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500explanen
- Englishearliest quotation 1909explain
Earliest quotation: 1909, Archibald Marshall pseudonym; Arthur Ham, A Court Ball: “The boy became volubly friendly and bubbling over with…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- ‘flat’
field, floor, planet, palm, clan, archipelago, fluke, parma, flounder, placenta, playa, lech, polonium, palatine, pelagic, placate, implacable, veld, plantar, flay, floe, purdah, planta, 50 more
through Proto-Italic *plānos
through Latin planus ‘level, plain’
through Latin explanō ‘to flatten, spread out, make plain or clear,…’
Today it means
verb To make plain, manifest, or intelligible; to clear of obscurity; to illustrate the meaning of.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin plānus / explain