elucidate
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɪˈl(j)uːsɪdeɪt/
ipa: /əˈlusəˌdeɪt/
ipa: /i-/
Forms: form: elucidates
form: elucidating
form: elucidated
form: elucidated
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: elucidate
form: elucidate
form: elucidated
form: elucidate
form: elucidatest
form: elucidated
form: elucidatedst
form: elucidates
form: elucidateth
form: elucidated
form: elucidate
form: elucidated
form: elucidate
form: elucidated
form: elucidate
form: -
form: elucidating
form: elucidated
Etymology: From Late Latin ēlūcidātus, perfect passive participle of ēlūcidō (“to lighten, enlighten”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from ē(x)- (“out, from”) + lūcidus (“bright, clear, understandable”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix), literally “to make light of (something)”, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright; to see; to shine”). Compare French élucider.
Senses: glosses: To make (something) lucid (“bright, luminous; also, clear, transparent”).
examples: text: Let me hear vvhat your ovvn conceptions are of the matter, if they tend to elucidate or reconcile.
ref: 1675, Richard Baxter, “The Second Book. The Fifth Days Conference with an Arminian of Mans Natural Sinfulness and Impotency to Good, and of Free-will.”, in Richard Baxter’s Catholick Theologie: […], London: […] Robert White, for Nevill Simmons […], →OCLC, page 88:
text: Dining at Mr. [Samuel] Pepys's, Dr. Slayer shewed us an experiment of a wonderful nature, […] This matter or phosphorus was made out of human blood and urine, elucidating the vital flame or heate in animal bodys.
ref: 1685 December 23 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 13 December 1685]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC, page 620:
text: The antiquities of France have been elucidated by a learned and ingenious people: […]
ref: a. 1795 (date written), Edward Gibbon, “An Address, &c.”, in John Lord Sheffield [i.e., John Baker Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield], editor, Miscellaneous Works of Edward Gibbon, Esquire. […], volume II, London: […] A[ndrew] Strahan, and T[homas] Cadell Jun. and W[illiam] Davies, (successors to Mr. [Thomas] Cadell), […], published 1796, →OCLC, page 712:
text: The business however, though not perfectly elucidated by this speech, soon ceased to be a puzzle.
ref: 1803 (date written), [Jane Austen], chapter XIII, in Northanger Abbey; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC, page 237:
text: Peter elucidateth the Frauds in Literature by a Smock Race.
ref: 1812, Peter Pindar [pseudonym; John Wolcot], “Nil Admirari; or, A Smile at a Bishop; […]. Argument.”, in The Works of Peter Pindar, Esq. […], new edition, volume IV, London: […] J[ohn] Walker, G. Wilkie and J. Robinson, G. Robinson, […]; and G. Goulding and Co. […], →OCLC, page 272:
text: His notes abound with interesting quotations, and have the rare merit of really elucidating the text.
ref: 1825 August, Thomas Babington Macaulay, “[John] Milton. […]”, in Critical and Historical Essays, Contributed to the Edinburgh Review. […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: […] Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, […], published 1843, →OCLC, page 2:
text: [W]e find no need of, and no use for, the peculiar technical terminology which he and his masters the Germans have introduced into philosophy, […] which this language, in our judgment, serves not to elucidate, but to disguise and obscure.
ref: 1840 March, John Stuart Mill, “Coleridge”, in Dissertations and Discussions Political, Philosophical, and Historical […], volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker and Son, […], published 1859, →OCLC, page 409:
text: [A]s it is known that he [Guillaume Duchenne de Boulogne] was eminently successful in elucidating the physiology of the muscles of the hand by the aid of electricity, it is probably that he is generally in the right about the muscles of the face.
ref: 1872, Charles Darwin, “Introduction”, in The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 5:
text: [P]hysicians at the annual meeting of the American Academy of General Practice were fascinated by a 3-ft. model showing the brain's components in 20 layers of translucent plastic, and wired for colored lights to elucidate some of its workings.
ref: 1960 April 4, “Medicine: Unmasking the Brain”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Oct 2010:
text: Another appendix elucidates the S.E.C.R. headcode system.
ref: 1961 July, “New Reading on Railways: The Locomotives of the South Eastern & Chatham Railway, by D. L. Bradley”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page vii:
text: The new Sopranos volume has 17 essays that examine the television show and elucidate concepts from classical philosophers, including Aristotle, [Niccolò] Machiavelli, [Friedrich] Nietzsche, Sun Tzu and Plato.
ref: 2004 April 13, David Bernstein, “Philosophy hitches a ride with ‘The Sopranos’”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Aug 2023:
text: O Lord! somewhere Thou elucidatest the traits of song and sound and somewhere Thou art the treasure of dancing and painting.
ref: 2005, Guru Gobind Singh, “Akal Ustat: Eulogy of the Non-temporal Lord”, in Surindar Singh Kohli, transl., The Dasam Granth = ਸ੍ਰੀ ਦਸਮ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ [Shrī Dasama Grantha Sāhiba]: The Second Scripture of the Sikhs, New Delhi: Ashok Jain for Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, published 2020, →ISBN, page 39, column 2:
synonyms: explain
explicate
glosses: To make (something) clear and understandable; to clarify, to illuminate, to shed light on.
Derived terms: elucidation
elucidative
elucidator
elucidatory
unelucidated
Related terms: enlighten
lucid
lucidity
lucidly
lucidness
nonlucid
pellucid
pellucidity
pellucidly
pellucidness
unlucid