Explain

Verb

 * 1) To give a sufficiently detailed report about (a) the reason for something, about why something happened, about a causal chain of events; about (b) how something works, about how elements in a system interact; about (c) how to do something, about the steps which need to be accomplished in order to accomplish a certain goal.
 * 2) To give a valid excuse for some past behavior.
 * 3)  To make flat, smooth out.
 * 4)  To unfold or make visible.

Adverbs for Explain
proudly; patiently; quaintly; amply; candidly; plausibly; speciously; prefatorily redundantly; superfluously; passionately comprehensively; adequately; essentially partially; definitely; solemnly; carefully sulkily; presently; sufficiently; hesitatingly casually; paradoxically; tenderly; technically; voluntarily; minutely; undauntedly; elaborately; effectively; inaudibly; lengthily; immaterially; confusedly; ingeniously laboredly; immediately; incongruously philosophically; sympathetically; volubly competently;  psychologically; invaluably tardily; apologetically; illogically; concisely; facetiously; fundamentally; comically prosaically; disarmingly; lamely; casually haltingly.

Synonyms for Explain

 * expound, elaborate
 * interpret, elucidate, manifest, teach, illustrate, translate, decipher, construe, unravel, unfold, solve, clarify, justify.

Antonyms for Explain
perplex, complicate, involve, confuse, tangle, bewilder, confound, obscure, cloud, befuddle, mystify, confirm.

Related terms

 * explanation
 * explain away
 * explanatory

Thesaurus
absolve, account, account for, acquit, aid, allegorize, analyze, answer, bottom, break down, clarify, clear, clear the way, clear up, condone, construe, crack, cry sour grapes, debug, decipher, decode, define, delineate, demonstrate, demythologize, describe, destigmatize, detail, disclose, discourse, disentangle, divine, do, do justice to, dope, dope out, ease, elucidate, enlighten, euhemerize, exculpate, excuse, exemplify, exonerate, expedite, explain away, explicate, exposit, expound, extenuate, facilitate, fathom, figure out, find out, find the answer, find the solution, get, get across, get over, get right, give reason for, give the meaning, grease, grease the ways, grease the wheels, guess, guess right, harangue, hasten, have it, help along, hit it, hold forth, illuminate, illustrate, interpret, justify, lecture, legitimate, legitimatize, loose, lubricate, make clear, make it clear, make out, make plain, make way for, moralize, oil, open the lock, open the way, open up, palliate, pave the way, plumb, point a moral, popularize, preach, prepare the way, psych, psych out, purge, put across, put over, puzzle out, quicken, rationalize, ravel, ravel out, read a lesson, rehabilitate, reinstate, remove friction, resolve, restore, riddle, run interference for, sermonize, shed light upon, show, show how, show the way, simplify, smooth, smooth the way, soap the ways, solve, sort out, speed, spell out, throw light upon, unbar, unblock, unclog, undo, unfold, unjam, unlock, unravel, unriddle, unscramble, untangle, untwist, unweave, vindicate, vulgarize, warrant, work, work out

Etymology
explanen from explaner: from  explanō: from ex-: + planō: from planus:; see plain and plane. Compare esplanade, splanade. Displaced native arecchen, irecchen "to explain, expound" (from  āreccan, ġereccan).

Translations

 * Arabic: شرح
 * Catalan:
 * Chinese:, ,
 * Croatian:
 * Czech:
 * Dutch: ,
 * Esperanto:
 * Finnish: ,
 * French:
 * German: ,
 * Greek: εξηγήσει
 * Hebrew:
 * Hungarian:
 * Italian:
 * Japanese: 説明する


 * Korean: 설명하다 (seolmyeonghada)
 * Kurdish: şirove kirin, îzah kirin, fesîh kirin, zelal kirin, ron kirin, şayesandin, şayes kirin, şayes dan, sêwer kirin, bas kirin, qal kirin, vegotin, derbirin, wesf dan, saloxandin, salox kirin, teswîr kirin, tesewir kirin
 * Latvian: skaidrot
 * Polish: objaśnić
 * Portuguese: ,
 * Romanian:
 * Russian: ,
 * Slovene:
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish:
 * Telugu: వివరించు (vivariMchu)
 * Ukrainian: пояснити


 * Croatian:
 * Czech:
 * Dutch:
 * Finnish:
 * German:


 * Korean: 변명하다 (byeonmyeonghada)
 * Russian: оправдывать, оправдать
 * Serbo-Croatian: objasniti, rasvijetliti