explain

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.

• /ɪkˈspleɪn/
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• /ɛkˈspleɪn/
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• US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• South-Asia: /ɛksˈplen/
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• South-Asia: /ɛksˈplɛjn/ without the pane–pain merger, spelling pronunciation
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• rhymes with -eɪn
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• CMU ARPABET: IH0 K S P L EY1 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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From Middle English explanen, from Old French explaner, from Latin explanō (“to flatten, spread out, make plain or clear, explain”), from ex- (“out”) + planō (“to flatten, make level”), from planus (“level, plain”); see plain and plane. Compare esplanade, splanade. Displaced Old English reċċan.

191 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Albanian: shpjegoj — to make intelligible
• Southern Altai: учур айдар (učur aydar) — to make intelligible
• Southern Altai: чечип айдар (čečip aydar) — to make intelligible
• Arabic: شَرَحَ (šaraḥa) — to make intelligible
• Arabic: فَسَّرَ (fassara) — to make intelligible
• Arabic: أَبَانَ (ʔabāna) — to make intelligible
• Arabic: فهم (fahhim) — to make intelligible
• Arabic: فهّم (fahham) — to make intelligible
• Arabic: شرح (šaraḥ) — to make intelligible
• Armenian: բացատրել (bacʻatrel) — to make intelligible
• Aromanian: exiyisescu — to make intelligible
• Asturian: esplicar — to make intelligible
• Azerbaijani: başa salmaq — to make intelligible
• Azerbaijani: izah etmək — to make intelligible
• Azerbaijani: açıqlamaq — to make intelligible
• Basque: azaldu — to make intelligible
• Belarusian: аб'ясьня́ць (abʺjasʹnjácʹ) — to make intelligible
• Belarusian: аб'ясьні́ць (abʺjasʹnícʹ) — to make intelligible
• Belarusian: тлума́чыць (tlumáčycʹ) — to make intelligible
• Belarusian: растлума́чыць (rastlumáčycʹ) — to make intelligible
• Bengali: বোঝান (bōjhan) — to make intelligible
• Bengali: ভাষ্য করা (bhaśśo kora) — to make intelligible
• Bulgarian: обясня́вам (objasnjávam) — to make intelligible
• Burmese: ရှင်းပြ (hrang:pra.) — to make intelligible
• Burmese: ဖွင့် (hpwang.) — to make intelligible
• Burmese: လင်း (lang:) — to make intelligible
• Burmese: ဖြေရှင်း (hprehrang:) — to make intelligible
• Catalan: explicar — to make intelligible
• Chinese Cantonese: 解釋 /解释 (gaai2 sik1) — to make intelligible
• Chinese Mandarin: 解釋 /解释 (jiěshì) — to make intelligible
• Chinese Mandarin: 說明 /说明 (shuōmíng) — to make intelligible
• Chinese Mandarin: 闡釋 /阐释 (chǎnshì) — to make intelligible
• Chuukese: awewe — to make intelligible
• Czech: vysvětlovat — to make intelligible
• Czech: vysvětlit — to make intelligible
• Danish: forklare — to make intelligible
• Dutch: uitleggen — to make intelligible
• Dutch: verklaren — to make intelligible
• Dutch: toelichten — to make intelligible
• Esperanto: klarigi — to make intelligible
• Estonian: seletama — to make intelligible
• Estonian: selgitama — to make intelligible
• Finnish: selittää — to make intelligible
• Finnish: selostaa — to make intelligible
• French: expliquer — to make intelligible
• West-Frisian: útlizze — to make intelligible
• Galician: explicar — to make intelligible
• Georgian: ახსნა (axsna) — to make intelligible
• Georgian: განმარტება (ganmarṭeba) — to make intelligible
• German: erklären — to make intelligible
• German: erläutern — to make intelligible
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐌺𐌴𐌹𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gaskeirjan) — to make intelligible
• Greek: εξηγώ (exigó) — to make intelligible
• Ancient Greek: ἐξηγέομαι (exēgéomai) — to make intelligible
• Ancient Greek: ἑρμηνεύω (hermēneúō) — to make intelligible
• Haitian Creole: eksplike — to make intelligible
• Hebrew: הִסְבִּיר (hisbír) — to make intelligible
• Hindi: समझाना (samjhānā) — to make intelligible
• Hungarian: magyaráz — to make intelligible
• Hungarian: megmagyaráz — to make intelligible
• Hungarian: elmagyaráz — to make intelligible
• Hungarian: kifejt — to make intelligible
• Icelandic: útskýra — to make intelligible
• Ido: explikar — to make intelligible
• Indonesian: menjelaskan — to make intelligible
• Ingrian: toimittaa — to make intelligible
• Interlingua: explicar — to make intelligible
• Irish: mínigh — to make intelligible
• Italian: spiegare — to make intelligible
• Italian: chiosare — to make intelligible
• Italian: illustrare — to make intelligible
• Japanese: 説明する (setsumei suru) — to make intelligible
• Japanese: 教える (oshieru) — to make intelligible
• Kazakh: түсіндіру (tüsındıru) — to make intelligible
• Khmer: បន្លែ (bɑnlae) — to make intelligible
• Khmer: បំភ្លឺ (bɑmphlɨɨ) — to make intelligible
• Khmer: ពន្យល់ (pɔɔpŭənyŭəl) — to make intelligible
• Khmer: សាធក (saathĕəʼkaʼ) — to make intelligible
• Korean: 설명하다 (seolmyeonghada) — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: şirove kirin — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: îzah kirin — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: fesîh kirin — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: zelal kirin — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: ron kirin — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: şayesandin — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: şayes kirin — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: şayes dan — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: sêwer kirin — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: bas kirin — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: qal kirin — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: vegotin — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: derbirin — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: wesf dan — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: saloxandin — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: salox kirin — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: teswîr kirin — to make intelligible
• Northern Kurdish: tesewir kirin — to make intelligible
• Kyrgyz: түшүндүрүү (tüşündürüü) — to make intelligible
• Lao: ອະທິບາຍ (ʼa thi bāi) — to make intelligible
• Latin: explānō — to make intelligible
• Latin: explicō — to make intelligible
• Latvian: skaidrot — to make intelligible
• Lithuanian: aiškinti — to make intelligible
• Lithuanian: paaiškinti — to make intelligible
• Macedonian: објаснува (objasnuva) — to make intelligible
• Macedonian: објасни (objasni) — to make intelligible
• Malay: menjelaskan — to make intelligible
• Māori: whakamārama — to make intelligible
• Māori: whakamahuki — to make intelligible
• Mauritian Creole: explike — to make intelligible
• Mirandese: splicar — to make intelligible
• Mongolian: тайлбарлах (tajlbarlax) — to make intelligible
• Norman: explyitchi — to make intelligible
• Norwegian Bokmål: forklare — to make intelligible
• Occitan: explicar — to make intelligible
• Old English: reċċan — to make intelligible
• Pashto: تشريح کول (tašrihkawᶕl) — to make intelligible
• Persian: توضیح دادن (towzih dâdan) — to make intelligible
• Persian: شرح دادن (šarh dâdan) — to make intelligible
• Polish: wyjaśniać — to make intelligible
• Polish: wyjaśnić — to make intelligible
• Polish: objaśniać — to make intelligible
• Polish: objaśnić — to make intelligible
• Portuguese: explicar — to make intelligible
• Portuguese: explanar — to make intelligible
• Portuguese: explicitar — to make intelligible
• Quechua: alayrichiy — to make intelligible
• Romanian: explica — to make intelligible
• Russian: объясня́ть (obʺjasnjátʹ) — to make intelligible
• Russian: объясни́ть (obʺjasnítʹ) — to make intelligible
• Serbo-Croatian: обја̀снити — to make intelligible
• Serbo-Croatian: objàsniti — to make intelligible
• Shan: သပ်းလႅင်း (sáp léng) — to make intelligible
• Slovak: vysvetliť — to make intelligible
• Slovene: pojasniti — to make intelligible
• Spanish: explicar — to make intelligible
• Spanish: explanar — to make intelligible
• Swedish: förklara — to make intelligible
• Tajik: эзоҳ додан (ezoh dodan) — to make intelligible
• Tajik: шарҳ додан (šarh dodan) — to make intelligible
• Tamil: விளக்கு (viḷakku) — to make intelligible
• Tatar: аңлатырга (añlatırğa) — to make intelligible
• Telugu: వివరించు (vivariñcu) — to make intelligible
• Thai: อธิบาย (à-tí-baai) — to make intelligible
• Thai: ชี้แจง (chíi-jɛɛng) — to make intelligible
• Thai: แจง (jɛɛng) — to make intelligible
• Thai: นิยาม (ní-yaam) — to make intelligible
• Tocharian B: ṣärp- — to make intelligible
• Turkish: açıklamak — to make intelligible
• Turkish: izah etmek — to make intelligible
• Turkmen: düşündirmek — to make intelligible
• Ukrainian: поя́снювати (pojásnjuvaty) — to make intelligible
• Ukrainian: поясня́ти (pojasnjáty) — to make intelligible
• Ukrainian: поясни́ти (pojasnýty) — to make intelligible
• Unami: wëntamasi — to make intelligible
• Urdu: سمجھانا (samjhānā) — to make intelligible
• Uyghur: چۈشەندۈرمەك (chüshendürmek) — to make intelligible
• Uzbek: tushuntirmoq — to make intelligible
• Uzbek: izohlamoq — to make intelligible
• Venetan: spiegar — to make intelligible
• Vietnamese: giải thích — to make intelligible
• Walloon: espliker — to make intelligible
• Walloon: spliker — to make intelligible
• Welsh: egluro — to make intelligible
• Yiddish: דערקלערן (derklern) — to make intelligible
• Yiddish: מסביר זײַן (masber zayn) — to make intelligible
• Bulgarian: давам обяснения (davam objasnenija) — excuse
• Catalan: explicar — excuse
• Czech: vysvětlit — excuse
• Dutch: verklaren — excuse
• Esperanto: pravigi — excuse
• Finnish: selittää — excuse
• French: justifier — excuse
• Galician: explicar — excuse
• German: erklären — excuse
• Hungarian: magyaráz — excuse
• Hungarian: indokol — excuse
• Hungarian: igazol — excuse
• Italian: giustificare — excuse
• Italian: motivare — excuse
• Italian: scusarsi — excuse
• Korean: 변명하다 (byeonmyeonghada) — excuse
• Portuguese: explicar — excuse
• Russian: опра́вдывать (oprávdyvatʹ) — excuse
• Russian: оправда́ть (opravdátʹ) — excuse
• Serbo-Croatian: обја̀снити — excuse
• Serbo-Croatian: rasvijetliti — excuse
• Serbo-Croatian: objàsniti — excuse
• Serbo-Croatian: расвијетлити — excuse
• Spanish: explicar — excuse
• Swedish: förklara — excuse