Afrikaans verduideliking | ||
Albanian shpjegim | ||
Amharic ማብራሪያ | ||
Arabic تفسير | ||
Armenian բացատրություն | ||
Assamese ব্যাখ্যা | ||
Aymara qhananchawi | ||
Azerbaijani izahat | ||
Bambara ɲɛfɔli | ||
Basque azalpena | ||
Belarusian тлумачэнне | ||
Bengali ব্যাখ্যা | ||
Bhojpuri व्याख्या | ||
Bosnian objašnjenje | ||
Bulgarian обяснение | ||
Catalan explicació | ||
Cebuano pagpatin-aw | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 说明 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 說明 | ||
Corsican spiegazione | ||
Croatian obrazloženje | ||
Czech vysvětlení | ||
Danish forklaring | ||
Dhivehi ތަފްޞީލު | ||
Dogri बजाह्त | ||
Dutch uitleg | ||
English explanation | ||
Esperanto klarigo | ||
Estonian selgitus | ||
Ewe numeɖeɖe | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) pagpapaliwanag | ||
Finnish selitys | ||
French explication | ||
Frisian ferklearring | ||
Galician explicación | ||
Georgian განმარტება | ||
German erläuterung | ||
Greek εξήγηση | ||
Guarani myesakãrã | ||
Gujarati સમજૂતી | ||
Haitian Creole eksplikasyon | ||
Hausa bayani | ||
Hawaiian hoakaka | ||
Hebrew הֶסבֵּר | ||
Hindi व्याख्या | ||
Hmong kev piav qhia | ||
Hungarian magyarázat | ||
Icelandic skýring | ||
Igbo nkọwa | ||
Ilocano panangilawlawag | ||
Indonesian penjelasan | ||
Irish míniú | ||
Italian spiegazione | ||
Japanese 説明 | ||
Javanese panjelasan | ||
Kannada ವಿವರಣೆ | ||
Kazakh түсіндіру | ||
Khmer ការពន្យល់ | ||
Kinyarwanda ibisobanuro | ||
Konkani स्पश्टीकरण | ||
Korean 설명 | ||
Krio fɔ ɛksplen | ||
Kurdish daxûyanî | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) ڕوونکردنەوە | ||
Kyrgyz түшүндүрмө | ||
Lao ຄຳ ອະທິບາຍ | ||
Latin explicandum | ||
Latvian paskaidrojums | ||
Lingala ndimbola | ||
Lithuanian paaiškinimas | ||
Luganda okunnyonnyola | ||
Luxembourgish erklärung | ||
Macedonian објаснување | ||
Maithili वर्णन | ||
Malagasy fanazavana | ||
Malay penjelasan | ||
Malayalam വിശദീകരണം | ||
Maltese spjegazzjoni | ||
Maori whakamarama | ||
Marathi स्पष्टीकरण | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯁꯟꯗꯣꯛꯅ ꯇꯥꯛꯄ | ||
Mizo hrilhfiahna | ||
Mongolian тайлбар | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ရှင်းပြချက် | ||
Nepali स्पष्टीकरण | ||
Norwegian forklaring | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) kufotokoza | ||
Odia (Oriya) ବ୍ୟାଖ୍ୟା | ||
Oromo ibsa | ||
Pashto تشریح | ||
Persian توضیح | ||
Polish wyjaśnienie | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) explicação | ||
Punjabi ਵਿਆਖਿਆ | ||
Quechua willay | ||
Romanian explicaţie | ||
Russian объяснение | ||
Samoan faʻamatalaga | ||
Sanskrit विवरण | ||
Scots Gaelic mìneachadh | ||
Sepedi tlhalošo | ||
Serbian објашњење | ||
Sesotho tlhaloso | ||
Shona tsananguro | ||
Sindhi وضاحت | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) පැහැදිලි කිරීම | ||
Slovak vysvetlenie | ||
Slovenian razlago | ||
Somali sharaxaad | ||
Spanish explicación | ||
Sundanese katerangan | ||
Swahili maelezo | ||
Swedish förklaring | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) paliwanag | ||
Tajik шарҳ | ||
Tamil விளக்கம் | ||
Tatar аңлату | ||
Telugu వివరణ | ||
Thai คำอธิบาย | ||
Tigrinya መግለጺ | ||
Tsonga nhlamuselo | ||
Turkish açıklama | ||
Turkmen düşündiriş | ||
Twi (Akan) nkyerɛmu | ||
Ukrainian пояснення | ||
Urdu وضاحت | ||
Uyghur چۈشەندۈرۈش | ||
Uzbek tushuntirish | ||
Vietnamese giải trình | ||
Welsh esboniad | ||
Xhosa inkcazo | ||
Yiddish דערקלערונג | ||
Yoruba alaye | ||
Zulu incazelo |
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Verduideliking, meaning 'explanation', derives from the Dutch 'verduidelijken' translating to 'to make clear'. It is related to 'duidelijk' ('clear') and has a secondary meaning of 'declaration'. |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "shpjegim" derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "*sek-," meaning "to cut" or "to separate". |
| Amharic | The word "ማብራሪያ" can also refer to a "reason" or "excuse" in Amharic. |
| Arabic | The Arabic word "تفسير" can also refer to "commentary" or "exegesis", particularly in the context of religious texts. |
| Azerbaijani | "İzahat" (explanation) is commonly used in the context of providing additional information or clarification, but it can also refer to a specific type of poem or prose in Azerbaijani literature that typically includes philosophical or didactic content. |
| Basque | The word "azalpena" has no alternative meanings, but is related to the words "azal" ("skin"), "azaltzen" ("to undress"), and "azaldu" ("to appear"). |
| Belarusian | The Belarusian word "тлумачэнне" (explanation) is derived from the Old Slavonic word "tlъkъ", which means "sense, meaning, interpretation, explanation." |
| Bengali | The word "ব্যাখ্যা" comes from Sanskrit "व्याख्या" (vyAkhyA), which also means "interpretation" or "commentary". |
| Bosnian | "Objašnjenje" is derived from the verb "objasniti", which means "make clear" or "to explain" in Slavic languages. |
| Bulgarian | The word "обяснение" in Bulgarian can also mean "excuse" or "justification". |
| Catalan | The Catalan word "explicació" shares its etymology with the English word "explanation" and can also mean "interpretation" or "performance". |
| Cebuano | The word 'pagpatin-aw' is derived from the verb 'patin-aw', meaning 'to make clear or understandable'. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The second character 明 also shares the meanings of "brightness" and "clarity" as in the word for "tomorrow" 明天.} |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 說明 may also mean a bill of lading in Chinese. |
| Corsican | In Corsican, the word "spiegazione" can also mean "sermon" or "lecture." |
| Croatian | The word "obrazloženje" also means "rationale" or "justification". |
| Czech | The Czech word "vysvětlení" can also be a colloquial expression meaning "a big problem". |
| Danish | The Danish word "forklaring" derives from the Old Norse terms "for" and "klára" and originally referred to an open space in a wood or forest where trees had been removed. |
| Dutch | In Dutch, the word "uitleg" is also used to refer to a type of traditional flatbread commonly served with savory toppings. |
| Estonian | The word "selgitus" also has other meanings, including "clarification" and "interpretation". |
| Finnish | The word 'selitys' has roots in the Indo-European word stem *sekw-, meaning 'to follow', and also has a secondary meaning of 'excuse'. |
| French | In French, "explication" has two distinct meanings: 1) an 'explanation' or 'interpretation', and 2) a 'dispute' or 'argument'. |
| Frisian | The word 'ferklearring' in Frisian is derived from the Old Frisian word 'forklare', which also meant 'to purify' or 'to clarify'. |
| Galician | In Galician, "explicación" can also mean "expiation" (in the religious sense), unlike in Spanish. |
| German | 'Erläuterung' can also mean 'glossary' or 'legend', and is derived from the Middle High German 'erliuhtunge' (illumination). |
| Greek | "Εξήγηση" can also mean "confession" or "disclosure", derived from the verb "εξηγούμαι" (to explain, confess, disclose). |
| Gujarati | The word "સમજૂતી" comes from the Sanskrit word "samjña" meaning "knowledge, understanding". |
| Haitian Creole | The word "eksplikasyon" comes from the French word "explication" which means "explanation" or "interpretation" |
| Hausa | In Hausa, "bayani" can also refer to a statement or account of an event or situation. |
| Hawaiian | Hoakaka, meaning "explanation" in Hawaiian, also refers to a type of Polynesian dance. |
| Hebrew | הֶסבֵּר is derived from the root ס-ב-ב, meaning "to turn around," possibly referring to a mental process of "turning around" an idea to understand it. |
| Hindi | As the word व्याख्या is derived from |
| Hmong | The word "kev piav qhia" can also mean "to make clear" or "to clarify". |
| Hungarian | "Magyarázat" also means "exculpation" and "apology" in Hungarian. |
| Icelandic | Skýring is derived from the Old Norse word 'skýra,' meaning 'to make clear' or 'to interpret,' and can also refer to 'interpretation,' 'exposition,' or 'commentary.' |
| Igbo | The word “nkọwa” can also mean “interpretation” in Igbo. |
| Indonesian | "Penjelasan" can also mean "opinion" or "meaning." |
| Irish | "Míniú" originally derives from "mín," a prefix meaning "small," or "fine," and "-iú" a suffix that can form abstract noun words from any root verb. Hence "míniú" means literally "the quality of fineness," or figuratively "explanation." |
| Italian | "Spiegazione" also means "wrinkle" or "rumple" in Italian. |
| Japanese | Though it now means 'explanation,' the etymology of '説明' implies it originally meant 'a picture that shows' something. |
| Javanese | "Panjelasan" can also refer to a Javanese traditional performing art that involves storytelling. |
| Kannada | The word 'ವಿವರಣೆ' also refers to 'description' and 'representation' in Kannada. |
| Kazakh | Түсіндіру (explanation) ultimately derives from the Old Turkic verb "tüşün-" (to understand). |
| Khmer | The word "ការពន្យល់" is also used to mean "understanding", "conception", or "interpretation" in Khmer. |
| Korean | "설명" can also refer to "the act or fact of elucidating" in Korean. |
| Kurdish | The word "daxûyanî" also means "clarification" and "interpretation" in Kurdish. |
| Kyrgyz | It is derived from the verb “түшүн-“ (“understand”) and can also mean “meaning.” |
| Latin | Explicandum is also used in philosophy to refer to the concept or idea that is being explained or made clear. |
| Latvian | "Paskaidrojums" is derived from the verb "paskaidrot" which means "to make clear" or "to shed light on". |
| Lithuanian | The word "paaiškinimas" in Lithuanian is derived from the verb "aiškinti" (to explain, to clarify), and also has the alternate meaning of "commentary". |
| Luxembourgish | Erklärung also means "clarification", "statement", or "declaration". |
| Malagasy | In Malagasy, the word "fanazavana" can also mean "justification" or "validation". |
| Malay | The Malay word "penjelasan" can also refer to a "disclosure" or a "clarification". |
| Malayalam | The word "വിശദീകരണം" comes from the Sanskrit word "विवरण" (vivāraṇa), which means "making known, clear, or distinct." |
| Maltese | The original form of the Maltese word "spjegazzjoni" is the verb "spjega," borrowed from the Italian "spiegare," meaning "to unfold," "to display," and "to explain." |
| Maori | Whakamarama also refers to the act of making something known, clarifying something, or spreading knowledge. |
| Marathi | The word 'स्पष्टीकरण' in Marathi comes from the Sanskrit word 'स्पष्ट', meaning 'clear' or 'evident'. |
| Mongolian | From Russian "пояснение" or "объяснение". Borrowed form Russian in the 1930s. |
| Nepali | Nepali word "स्पष्टीकरण" can also mean "clarification" or "interpretation". |
| Norwegian | The word "forklaring" is derived from the Old Norse word "forklara", meaning "to make clear" or "to clarify". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "kufotokoza" in Nyanja can also mean "to analyze" or "to interpret". |
| Pashto | "تشریح" in Pashto can also mean "medicine," and is etymologically related to the word "anatomy." |
| Persian | In Persian, "towzih" also refers to a type of Persian poem that expounds on a religious or philosophical theme. |
| Polish | "Wyjaśnienie" is a Polish word that literally translates to "explanation" in English, but it can also mean "statement" or "account". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The Portuguese word "explicação" can also refer to a private tutorial or extra class. |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "explicaţie" is derived from the Latin word "explicatio" and also refers to a justification for an absence from school. |
| Russian | The word "объяснение" also has the alternate meaning of "justification" in Russian. |
| Samoan | The Samoan word "faʻamatalaga" can also mean "to inform" or "to give an account of something." |
| Scots Gaelic | The Gaelic word 'mìneachadh' is also used to describe the process of 'weakening' or 'thinning' something. |
| Serbian | The Serbian word "објашњење" also means "excuse" or "apology". |
| Sesotho | The word 'tlhaloso' is derived from the verb 'hlalosa', which means 'to make clear'. |
| Shona | The word "tsananguro" is derived from the verb stem "tsanangura," which means "to make clear or distinct." |
| Sindhi | وضاحت (wuzūhat) comes from the Arabic word “وضوح” (wuḍūḥ) meaning “clarity” or “distinctness.” |
| Slovak | "Vysvetlenie" can also refer to a clarification or interpretation. |
| Slovenian | The cognate Old Church Slavonic verb “razlagati” could mean “to interpret”, “to reveal”, “to translate” and “to set apart”. |
| Somali | "Sharaxaad" is also used to refer to a piece of furniture that helps display or organise items. |
| Spanish | In addition to "explanation," "explicación" can also mean "justification" and can refer to a legal document or statement. |
| Sundanese | Katerangan, or "katerengan" in the Indonesian spelling, means "explanation" but also refers to the act of storytelling or reciting a story. |
| Swahili | The word "maelezo" in Swahili also means "detail" or "feature" |
| Swedish | The Swedish word “förklaring” literally means “un-masking” or “un-veiling”, thus reflecting its original Latin meaning of disclosing something that is unclear. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The word "paliwanag" in Tagalog (Filipino) literally means "to make clear and bright," highlighting its illuminating purpose in conveying understanding. |
| Tajik | "Шарҳ" (explanation) in Tajik also means "condition". |
| Tamil | The Tamil word விளக்கம் also means "lamp", with a common etymology based on the concept of "illumination". |
| Thai | The Thai word "คำอธิบาย" is derived from the Sanskrit word "vyākaraṇa", which originally referred to the study of language. |
| Turkish | The word "açıklama" can also refer to an excuse or a justification. |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word "пояснення" comes from the verb "пояснити," meaning "to make clear or understandable." |
| Urdu | Urdu word “وضاحت” means "Explanation." Urdu is heavily influenced by Arabic and Persian etymology |
| Uzbek | The word "tushuntirish" can also mean "to clarify" or "to make something clear". |
| Vietnamese | "Giải trình" in Vietnamese is a polysemic word with a historical root in the Chinese language, where it signifies the act of 'defending' (trình), 'exposing' (giải), and 'rebutting' (giải) something. |
| Welsh | The term "esboniad" also refers to a form of Welsh poetry similar to a sermon. |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word "inkcazo" derives from the verb "chaza" meaning "to reveal" or "to make known". |
| Yiddish | In Yiddish, the word "דערקלערונג" can also refer to a legal document such as a will or testament. |
| Yoruba | The word "alaye" can also refer to the "explanation of a riddle" or an "unraveling" of something hidden. |
| Zulu | The word "incazelo" in Zulu can also refer to a reason, justification, or account. |
| English | The word "explanation" comes from the Latin word "explanare", meaning "to flatten out" or "to make clear". |