elucidate
/ɪˈl(j)uːsɪdeɪt/
elucidate means to make (something) lucid (“bright, luminous; also, clear, transparent”). It carries an Arena rating of 1500, earned across 4 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, elucidate ranks #2,350 of 14,448 for Most Incisive Words, #6,244 of 14,297 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #7,074 of 14,308 for Most Malleable Words, #7,100 of 14,440 for Most Satisfying to Say.
elucidate is pronounced /ɪˈl(j)uːsɪdeɪt/.
Why “elucidate” is a great word
To make something clear and understandable, especially by explanation or analysis, from Late Latin ēlūcidātus, from ēlūcidō ("to enlighten"), from Latin ē(x)- ("out, thoroughly") + lūcidus ("bright, clear"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- ("bright, to shine"). Unlike "illuminate," which implies a sudden spiritual or intellectual revelation, or "clarify," which merely dispels simple confusion, to elucidate is the patient, methodical work of the scholar. It is the anatomy professor tracing each nerve in a careful dissection, the detective assembling fragments of evidence into an irrefutable sequence, the translator prying open the stubborn shell of a foreign syntax to reveal the meat within—light not as miracle but as labor, clarity earned through the unglamorous devotion of complete attention.
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.
verb
- To make (something) lucid (“bright, luminous; also, clear, transparent”).
- To make (something) clear and understandable; to clarify, to illuminate, to shed light on.e.g.“Let me hear vvhat your ovvn conceptions are of the matter, if they tend to elucidate or reconcile.”
adj
- Clear, understandable.
Words closest in meaning
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