EXPLAIN
excuse, explain
(verb) serve as a reason or cause or justification of; “Your need to sleep late does not excuse your late arrival at work”; “Her recent divorce may explain her reluctance to date again”
explain, explicate
(verb) make plain and comprehensible; “He explained the laws of physics to his students”
explain
(verb) define; “The committee explained their plan for fund-raising to the Dean”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
explain (third-person singular simple present explains, present participle explaining, simple past and past participle explained)
To make plain, manifest, or intelligible; to clear of obscurity; to illustrate the meaning of.
To give a valid excuse for past behavior.
(obsolete) To make flat, smooth out.
(obsolete) To unfold or make visible.
(intransitive) To make something plain or intelligible.
Synonyms
• (give a sufficiently detailed report): expound, elaborate, recce
Source: Wiktionary
Ex*plain", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Explained();p. pr. & vb. n.
Explaining.] Etym: [L. explandare to flatten, spread out, explain; ex
out+plandare to make level or plain, planus plain: cf. OF. esplaner,
explaner. See Plain,a., and cf. Esplanade.]
1. To flatten; to spread out; to unfold; to expand. [Obs.]
The horse-chestnut is . . . ready to explain its leaf. Evelyn.
2. To make plain, manifest, or intelligible; to clear of obscurity;
to expound; to unfold and illustrate the meaning of; as, to explain a
chapter of the Bible.
Commentators to explain the difficult passages to you. Gay.
To explain away, to get rid of by explanation. "Those explain the
meaning quite "away." Pope.
Syn.
– To expound; interpret; elucidate; clear up.
Ex*plain", v. i.
Definition: To give an explanation.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition