English → Latin
“explanation” in Latin
explicātiōThe act of unfolding or unrolling.; An explanation, explication, exposition.explānātiōexplanation, interpretation; exposition; articulation, pronunciationinterpretātiōexplanation, exposition, interpretation; a translation, version; signification, meaningēnārrātiōa detailed exposition or interpretation; a teacher's explanation or interpretation of a text, which he would deliver to dēfīnītiōdefinition; precise description; specification; boundary, limitēnōdātiōuntangling, untying; denouement, explanation
The English word explanation itself goes back to Latin plānus, through explanatio.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
explanation
explicatio: explanatio: interpretatio (a making clear, interpreting): enarratio (a continuous explanation of a writer; Quint., 1, 9, 1, etc.): definitio (the determining an idea, definition): enodatio (of difficulties in a subject). To give a careful and accurate explanation of difficult passages, *quae explicatione egent, diligenter et accurate interpretari (Muret.): to admit of another explanation, *aliam interpretationem admittere (Herm.). To have come to an explanation with anybody, se purgasse alicui (to have justified one’s self to him); aliquis satisfecit mihi or se mihi purgavit (another has justified himself to me); or by collocutum esse cum aliquo de re.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for explanation?
- The usual Latin words for “explanation” are explicātiō, explānātiō, interpretātiō; also ēnārrātiō, dēfīnītiō, ēnōdātiō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.