English
explicit
Explicit comes from French explicite ‘explicit, unequivocal, overt’, from Latin explicātus ‘disentangled, easy’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’.
- 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’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplicātusas explicitus‘disentangled, easy’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600explicite
- Frenchc. 1600–presentexplicite‘explicit, unequivocal, overt’
- Englishearliest quotation 1989explicit
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
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’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplicātusas explicitus‘disentangled, easy’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600explicite
- Frenchc. 1600–presentexplicite‘explicit, unequivocal, overt’
- Englishearliest quotation 1989explicit
Earliest quotation: 1989, Werner Winter, On a new claim concerning substratum influence upon Tocharia: “If the task is indeed a difficult one, it…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’
complex, fiasco, flax, replication, flack, plexus, flagon, 34 more
through Latin plicō ‘to fold’
apply, display, employment, reply, employ, imply, deploy, replica, ploy, complication, ply, complicate, accomplice, supple, implicit, implicate, complicity, pliable, supplication, triplicate, splay, pliant, 22 more
through Latin explicō ‘to unfold’
exploitation, inexplicable, 8 more
through Latin explicātus ‘disentangled, easy’
Today it means
adj Very specific, clear, or detailed.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- / explicit