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"to explain" in seven languages

Meaningto explain

Spanish

explicar

/ekspliˈkaɾ/

learned

French

expliquer

/ɛksplike/

learned

Italian

spiegare

/spjeˈgare/

inherited

Also 'to unfold, spread out' (spiegare le vele); learned esplicare is rare.

Portuguese

explicar

/ispliˈkah/

learned

Romanian

explica

/ekspliˈka/

learned

Catalan

explicar

/əkspliˈka/

learned

English

explain

/ɪkˈspleɪn/

other source · Latin EXPLĀNĀRE 'to make level' (PLĀNUS 'flat')

Look-alike, different verb: English 'flattens out', the sisters 'unfold'.

English → Italianto explainspiegareNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: explicit, explicate, implicate, complicated.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

EXPLICĀRE‘to unfold (EX + PLICĀRE 'to fold')’

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

The story

To explain is to unfold. Spanish and French use the learned form; Italian kept the spoken one, with pl turned to pi and c voiced to g (spiegare). Spanish llegar 'to arrive' comes from plain PLICĀRE.

English relatives: explicit, explicate, implicate, complicated

Sound laws at work

CL-, PL-, FL- at the start of a word

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • es¿Puedes explicar esta palabra?
  • frTu peux expliquer ce mot ?
  • itPuoi spiegare questa parola?
  • ptVocê pode explicar esta palavra?
  • roPoți să-mi explici cuvântul ăsta?
  • caEm pots explicar aquesta paraula?
  • enCan you explain this word?

More words from the same Latin

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words