explain implies a making plain or intelligible what is not immediately obvious or entirely known.
explain the rules
expound implies a careful often elaborate explanation.
expounding a scientific theory
explicate adds the idea of a developed or detailed analysis.
explicate a poem
elucidate stresses the throwing of light upon as by offering details or motives previously unclear or only implicit.
elucidate an obscure passage
interpret adds to explain the need for imagination or sympathy or special knowledge in dealing with something.
interpreting a work of art
Example Sentences
an essay explicating a theory the physicist did his best to explicate the wave theory of light for the audience of laymen
Recent Examples on the WebThe film ties itself into knots to explicate the bad news. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 31 Aug. 2022 This passage epitomizes Hickey’s unusual relationship to literature and his uncanny ability to draw forward an aspect of a poem or novel to explicate an artwork without reducing either to mere illustration. Jarrett Earnest, The New York Review of Books, 8 June 2022 The truth is, no one can fully explicate why Kipchoge is the GOAT. Amby Burfoot, Outside Online, 21 Aug. 2021 The truth is, no one can fully explicate why Kipchoge is the GOAT. Amby Burfoot, Outside Online, 21 Aug. 2021 The truth is, no one can fully explicate why Kipchoge is the GOAT. Amby Burfoot, Outside Online, 21 Aug. 2021 The truth is, no one can fully explicate why Kipchoge is the GOAT. Amby Burfoot, Outside Online, 21 Aug. 2021 The truth is, no one can fully explicate why Kipchoge is the GOAT. Amby Burfoot, Outside Online, 21 Aug. 2021 The truth is, no one can fully explicate why Kipchoge is the GOAT. Amby Burfoot, Outside Online, 21 Aug. 2021 See More
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from Latin explicātus, past participle of explicō, explicāre "to free from folds or creases, unroll, disentangle, spread out, set out in words, give an account of," from ex-ex- entry 1 + plicāre "to fold, bend" — more at ply entry 3