explicit
pronunciation
How to pronounce explicit in British English:
UK [ɪkˈsplɪsɪt]
How to pronounce explicit in American English:
US [ɪkˈsplɪsɪt]
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- Adjective:
- precisely and clearly expressed or readily observable; leaving nothing to implication
- in accordance with fact or the primary meaning of a term
Word Origin
- explicit
- explicit: [17] Something that is explicit has literally been ‘unfolded’. Like the earlier borrowing explicate [16], the word comes from the past participle of Latin explicāre, a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘un-’ and plicāre ‘fold’ (source of English ply and related to English fold). At first, in the 16th and 17th centuries, English retained the literal sense of the original, but gradually it dropped out in favour of the metaphorical ‘make clear, distinct, and open’ (already present in Latin).=> exploit, fold, ply
- explicit (adj.)
- 1610s, "open to the understanding, not obscure or ambiguous," from French explicite, from Latin explicitus "unobstructed," variant past participle of explicare "unfold, unravel, explain," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + plicare "to fold" (see ply (v.1)). As a euphemism for "pornographic" it dates from 1971. Related: Explicitness. "Explicitus" was written at the end of medieval books, originally short for explicitus est liber "the book is unrolled."
Example
- 1. Third , develop an explicit policy on public ownership .
- 2. How would adopting an explicit numerical inflation objective help ?
- 3. The commitment is explicit in the case of public-sector schemes .
- 4. This last is something new ; the author has been reticent about writing explicit sex scenes in the past .
- 5. I advocate being explicit about cross-national comparisons because doing so reveals unexpected similarities and differences .