explain

动词 explain:

1. make plain and comprehensible
   同义词：explicate
2. define
3. serve as a reason or cause or justification of
   同义词：excuse

1. That explains his absence.
   他缺席就是这个原因。
2. I don't understand your argument. Could you explain yourself a bit more?
   我不明白你的论点，你能把意思再说清楚些吗？
3. She explained her conduct to her boss.
   她向老板说明了自己那种表现的原因。
4. The lawyer explained the new law to us.
   律师向我们解释了新法律。
5. That explains why she is not here.
   那就说明了她不在这里的原因。

ex.plain

v.（动词）
ex.plained,ex.plain.ing,ex.plains
v.tr.（及物动词）
To make plain or comprehensible.
说明：使变清楚或可理解
To define; expound:
解释；说明：
例句：
We explained our plan to the committee.
我们把自己的方案向委员会做了说明

To offer reasons for or a cause of; justify:
辩解：为…提供原因或理由；为…辩护：
例句：
explain an error.
为错误辩护

To offer reasons for the actions, beliefs, or remarks of (oneself).
答辩：为（自己的）行为、信仰或评价提供依据
v.intr.（不及物动词）
To make something plain or comprehensible:
解释：使变清楚或可理解：
例句：
Let me explain.
请让我解释

<常用词组>explain away
To dismiss or get rid of by or as if by explaining.
辩护：用解释或类似的办法消除或摆脱
To minimize by explanation.
辩白：用解释减少
来源：
Middle English explanen
中古英语 explanen
from Latin expl3n3re
源自 拉丁语 expl3n3re
ex- [intensive pref.] * see ex-
ex- [强调性前缀] *参见 ex-
pl3nus [clear] * see pel…- 2
pl3nus [清楚的] *参见 pel…- 2

【引伸】
explain.able
adj.（形容词）
<参考词汇><同义词>explain,elucidate,expound,explicate,interpret,construeThese verbs mean to make understandable the nature or meaning of something.
这些动词都意味着使某事的性质或意思变得可理解。
Explain is the most widely applicable:
Explain 是应用最广的：
例句：
explained the difficult words and obscure symbols;
解释那些难懂的词和难解的符号；

例句：
tried to explain himself. Toelucidate is to throw light on something complex:
试图为他自己辩解。 Elucidate 意思是解释说明复杂的事物：

例句：
.Man`s whole life and environment have been laid open and elucidated. (Thomas Carlyle).Expound and explicate imply detailed and usually learned and lengthy exploration or analysis:
.人的整个生命和生活环境都已得到说明和阐释. （托马斯·卡莱尔）。Expound 和 explicate 指详细的并且通常是学术的和冗长的考察与分析：

例句：
.We must never forget that it is aconstitution we are expounding. (John Marshall).
.我们永远不应忘记那是宪法 ，对此我们正在加以解释. （约翰·马歇尔）。

例句：
.Ordinary language philosophers tried to explicate the standards of usage underlying the linguistic behavior of those who do not abuse this freedom. (Jerrold J. Katz).Tointerpret is to reveal the underlying meaning of something by the application of special knowledge or insight:
.普通语言学家试图解释用法的标准，这种标准潜藏在那些不滥用这种自由的人们的语言行为中. （杰罗尔德J·卡茨）。Interpret 意思是用特殊的知识或洞察力来揭示某事潜在的意思：

例句：
.If a poet interprets a poem of his own he limits its suggestibility. (William Butler Yeats).
.如果一个诗人解释他自己的一首诗，他就限制了它的暗示性. （威廉姆·巴特勒·济慈）。

Construe involves putting a particular construction or interpretation on something:
Construe 涉及的意思是给某事一个通俗的解释或说明：
例句：
.I take the official oath today . . . with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules. (Abraham Lincoln).
.今天我正式宣誓…没有用伪善的原则去解释宪法或法律的意图. （亚伯拉罕·林肯）。

例句：
Why do you construe my silence as a sign of disapprovalô
为什么你把我的沉默当成不同意的标志？