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explanation
5 dictionary results for: explanation
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
ex·pla·na·tion       [ek-spluh-ney-shuhn] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.the act or process of explaining.
2.something that explains; a statement made to clarify something and make it understandable; exposition: an explanation of a poem.
3.a meaning or interpretation: to find an explanation for a mystery.
4.a mutual declaration of the meaning of words spoken, actions, motives, etc., with a view to adjusting a misunderstanding or reconciling differences: After a long and emotional explanation they were friends again.
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME explanacioun < L explānātiōn- (s. of explānātiō), equiv. to explānāt(us) (see explanate) + -iōn- -ion]

—Synonyms 1. elucidation, explication, exposition, interpretation, description. 3. solution, key, answer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ex·pla·na·tion       (ěk'splə-nā'shən)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. The act or process of explaining: launched into a detailed explanation.
  2. Something that explains: That was supposedly the explanation for their misdeeds.
  3. A mutual clarification of misunderstandings; a reconciliation.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
explanation 
1382, from L. explanationem noun of action from explanare "to make plain or clear, explain," lit. "make level, flatten," from ex- "out" + planus "flat" (see plane (1)). Originally explane, spelling altered by infl. of plain. The verb explain is first attested 1513.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
explanation

noun
1. a statement that makes something comprehensible by describing the relevant structure or operation or circumstances etc.; "the explanation was very simple"; "I expected a brief account" 
2. thought that makes something comprehensible 
3. the act of explaining; making something plain or intelligible; "I heard his explanation of the accident" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Explanation

Ex`pla*na"tion\, n. [L. explanatio: cf. OF. esplanation.]

1. The act of explaining, expounding, or interpreting; the act of clearing from obscurity and making intelligible; as, the explanation of a passage in Scripture, or of a contract or treaty.

2. That which explains or makes clear; as, a satisfactory explanation.

3. The meaning attributed to anything by one who explains it; definition; interpretation; sense.

Different explanations [of the Trinity]. --Bp. Burnet.

4. A mutual exposition of terms, meaning, or motives, with a view to adjust a misunderstanding, and reconcile differences; reconciliation; agreement; as, to come to an explanation.

Syn: Definition; description; explication; exposition; interpretation; detail. See Definition.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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