English
explicative
Explicative comes from Latin explicō ‘to unfold, open out’, from plicō ‘to fold’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to fold, plait, weave’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicō‘to fold’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplicō‘to unfold, open out’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplicātīvus
- Englishearliest quotation 1669explicative
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to fold, plait, weave’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicō‘to fold’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplicō‘to unfold, open out’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplicātīvus
- Englishearliest quotation 1669explicative
Earliest quotation: 1669, John Tombes, The Text Is Explained in Order to the Refelling of the Excep: “For the adverſative particle [but] which follows, when he…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’
complex, fiasco, flax, flack, replication, plexus, flagon, 34 more
through Latin plicō ‘to fold’
apply, display, employment, reply, employ, imply, deploy, exploitation, replica, ploy, implicit, ply, accomplice, supple, complicity, complicate, complication, pliable, implicate, splay, pliant, supplication, triplicate, 22 more
through Latin explicō ‘to unfold, open out’
Today it means
adj Explanatory; serving to explain logically or in detail.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- / explicative