English
exploration
Exploration comes from Latin exploratio ‘an examination, exploration’, and goes back to plōrō ‘to cry out’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplōrō‘to cry out’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplōrō‘to explore, investigate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexploratio‘an examination, exploration’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600exploration
- Englishearliest quotation 1957same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplōrō‘to cry out’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplōrō‘to explore, investigate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexploratio‘an examination, exploration’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600exploration
- Englishearliest quotation 1957same form
Earliest quotation: 1957, M. D. Greville, A Diamond Jubilee of Railway Memories: “By this time, largely inspired by The Railway Magazine,…”
Formed from explore + -ation
Latin plōrō ‘to cry out’
Latin explōrō ‘to investigate, search out, seek, discover,…’
Middle French explorer ‘to explore’
English explore
Linked words
through Latin plōrō ‘to cry out’
Today it means
noun The process of exploring.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin plōrō / exploration