Standard Lemma guide

elucidate

adj · verb · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪˈl(j)uːsɪdət/
  • General-American: /əˈlusəˌdət/
  • General-American: /i-/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪˈl(j)uːsɪdeɪt/
  • Received-Pronunciation: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /əˈlusəˌdeɪt/
  • CMU ARPABET: IH0 L UW1 S AH0 D EY2 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Clear, understandable.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: apparent, arrant, undoubted, glaring, bait, blatant, clear, clear as a bell, clear as day, clear cut, conspicuous, crystal clear, cut and dried, decided, elucidate, evident, eyely, intuitive, manifest, notable, noticeable, obvious, open-and-shut, ostensible, palpable, patent, plain, plain as a haystack, plain as a pikestaff, plain as day, plain as Dunstable highway, plain as porridge, plain as print, plain as Salisbury, plain as the nose on one's face, prima facie, res ipsa loquitur, splendent, straightforward, undissembled

Antonyms: adiaphanous, nontransparent, opacous, opacular, opaque, thick

2

verb

Meaning 2

To make (something) lucid (“bright, luminous; also, clear, transparent”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To make (something) clear and understandable; to clarify, to illuminate, to shed light on.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: explain, explicate

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Could you clarify these remarks?
  • Clear up the question of who is at fault

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: clear, clear up, shed light on, crystallize, crystallise, crystalize, crystalise, straighten out, sort out, enlighten, illuminate

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: clarify, clear up, elucidate

5

verb

Meaning 5

make clear and (more) comprehensible

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • clarify the mystery surrounding her death

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: clarify, clear up

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: explain, explicate

Narrower terms: demystify, clear, clear up, shed light on, crystallize, crystallise, crystalize, crystalise, straighten out, sort out, enlighten, illuminate, elucidate, elaborate, lucubrate, expatiate, exposit, enlarge, flesh out, expand, expound, dilate, disambiguate

History

Etymology

From Late Latin ēlūcidātus (“lightened, enlightened”), see Etymology 1 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more.

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.

Across languages

Translations

56 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: aydınlaşdırmaq — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Azerbaijani: aydınlıq gətirmək — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Bulgarian: разяснявам (razjasnjavam) — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Catalan: dilucidar — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Chinese Cantonese: 解釋 /解释 (gaai2 sik1) — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Chinese Cantonese: 說明 /说明 (syut3 ming4) — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Chinese Cantonese: 闡明 /阐明 (zin2 ming4) — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Chinese Cantonese: 闡釋 /阐释 (zin2 sik1) — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Chinese Mandarin: 闡明 /阐明 (chǎnmíng) — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Chinese Mandarin: 解釋 /解释 (jiěshì) — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Chinese Mandarin: 說明 /说明 (shuōmíng) — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Czech: ozřejmit — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Danish: uddybe — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Dutch: clarificeren — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Dutch: uitleggen — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Dutch: verduidelijken — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Dutch: verhelderen — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Dutch: verklaren — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Finnish: havainnollistaa — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Finnish: selventää — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Finnish: valaista — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • French: élucider — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • French: expliquer — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • German: erklären — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • German: erläutern — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • German: verdeutlichen — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Hebrew: ביאר \ בֵּאֵר (be'ér) — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Hebrew: פירש \ פֵּרֵשׁ (perésh) — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Hungarian: értelmez — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Hungarian: kifejt — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Hungarian: megmagyaráz — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Hungarian: megvilágít — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Hungarian: tisztáz — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Hungarian: világossá/érthetővé tesz — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Italian: chiarire — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Italian: delucidare — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Māori: whakamahuki — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Māori: whakamāori — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Māori: whakamārama — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Māori: whakapūaho — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Norwegian: klargjøre — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Persian: روشن کردن (rovšan kardan) — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Polish: objaśniać — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Polish: wyjaśniać — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Polish: wyświetlać — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Portuguese: elucidar — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Portuguese: esclarecer — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Quechua: chiqaqchay — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Russian: разъясня́ть (razʺjasnjátʹ) — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Spanish: elucidar — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Swedish: belysa — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Swedish: förklara — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Swedish: kasta ljus över — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Swedish: klargöra — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Turkish: aydınlatmak — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate
  • Turkish: açığa çıkarmak — to make (something) clear and understandable — see also clarify, illuminate, dilucidate