explication

/ɛksplɪˈkeɪʃɪn/

/ɛksplɪˈkeɪʃən/

Other forms: explications

Explication is the process of making something clearer. When you carefully explain your performance art piece to your mystified parents, you can describe what you're doing as an explication.

The noun explication is closely related to "explicit," which essentially means "crystal clear." Both words come from the Latin explicitus, "unobstructed," which itself is a variant of explicare, "unfold or unravel." A good explication unravels any doubt or confusion and results in a crystal clear understanding, whether the explication involves performance art, the plot of a novel, or the complicated route to your grandmother's house.

Definitions of explication

1. noun

   a detailed explanation of the meaning of something
   type of:

   account, explanation

   a statement that makes something comprehensible by describing the relevant structure or operation or circumstances etc.
2. noun

   the act of making clear or removing obscurity from the meaning of a word or symbol or expression etc.
   type of:

   explanation

   the act of explaining; making something plain or intelligible