Originally Posted by vicente

Hello Faroá...your "nose" and input are welcome into the conversation I hope you understand that neither mariaklec nor I were questioning the existence of the words. Mariaklec (and I, too, now that I know) acknowledge that they exist, but why employ a limited use word like explicate that others might not know and you are unlikely to ever see again when you can use a more common word? The point is that they are not commonly used words and it would be better for a student of English such as maramaras to use more easily recognizable words in the early stages of her learning process.



On the topic: Her question was whether "account for" was a synonym of "to explicate" and from my understanding of the definition of explicate I'd say that "to account for" as a phrasal verb meaning "to make clear or to explain" is, indeed, loosely synonymous.


P.S. I'm not sure how you are making the association but I do not think implicate is the opposite, or an antonym, of explicate.

Antonyms of explicate:cloud, complicate, confuse, mystify, obscure, tangle

Synonyms:amplify, clear up, construe, demonstrate, develop, dilate, elucidate, enlarge upon, enucleate, expatiate, explain, expound, give the big picture, illustrate, interpret, make clear, make explicit, make plain, run down, spell out*, tell why, unfold, untangle, work out

and possibly "account for"


I must admit that this has taught me a new word...explicate...even if I never get to use it at least I will recognize it in the future.

Saludos!