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"explanation" in seven languages

Meaningexplanation

Spanish

explicación

/eksplikaˈθjon/

fem.learned

French

explication

/ɛksplikasjɔ̃/

fem.learned

Italian

spiegazione

/spjeɡatˈtsjone/

fem.inherited

Built in Italian on spiegare, the inherited descendant of EXPLICĀRE.

Portuguese

explicação

/esplikaˈsɐ̃w/

fem.learned

Romanian

explicație

/ekspliˈkatsie/

fem.learned

Catalan

explicació

/əksplikəsiˈo/

fem.learned

English

explanation

/ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/

other source · Latin EXPLĀNĀTIŌNEM 'a making plain' (from PLĀNUS 'flat')

English explain is 'make flat, plain'; the sisters' word is 'unfold'.

English → ItalianexplanationspiegazioneNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: explicit, inexplicable, implicate.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

EXPLICĀRE‘to unfold’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Explaining is 'unfolding' in the sisters but 'flattening out' in English: two different Latin verbs. Italian spiegare lost the initial e and turned pl into pi, like any inherited word.

English relatives: explicit, inexplicable, implicate

Sound laws at work

-TIŌNEM: learned -ción, inherited -zón

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In a sentence

  • esTiene que haber una explicación.
  • frIl doit y avoir une explication.
  • itCi deve essere una spiegazione.
  • ptTem que haver uma explicação.
  • roTrebuie să existe o explicație.
  • caHi ha d'haver una explicació.
  • enThere must be an explanation.

More words from the same Latin

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