What does explaining mean?
Explaining is the act of making something clear or understandable, whether by describing how something works, unpacking why something happened, or justifying an action. As the present participle and gerund of the verb "explain," it appears constantly in everyday life: teachers spend their careers explaining ideas, parents find themselves explaining rules, and scientists devote entire books to explaining natural phenomena. The word carries no particular emotional charge — it is neutral in tone and works in formal and casual settings alike. Yet it can shade into defensiveness when someone is explaining themselves after being blamed, and the phrase "explaining away" implies dismissing a concern with excuses rather than addressing it honestly. Derived from Latin roots meaning essentially "to make plain," explaining captures one of the most fundamentally human activities: turning confusion into understanding through words.
verbThe present participle and gerund of the verb "explain": to make something clear or easy to understand by describing it in more detail, or to give reasons for something.
- Making something clear or understandable by giving details or reasons (e.g. explaining a rule).
- Giving reasons or justification for one's actions or for why something happened (e.g. explaining a delay).
- Serving as the reason for something (e.g. "the delay explains why he missed the meeting" — used in passive or participial constructions).
"She spent the afternoon explaining the new policy to the team."
"The teacher walked around the room patiently explaining the problem to each student."
"He kept explaining his absence, but no one seemed convinced."
Every time you say "it's not what it looks like — let me explain," you're using a word that literally means to make something flat and plain: from Latin ex- ('out') + planus ('flat, clear').
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of explaining
"Explaining" derives from the Latin explanare, meaning "to flatten, make level, or make plain," formed from ex- ("out") plus planus ("flat, clear"). The word entered English via Old French in the 14th century as "expleinen" and later settled into its modern form "explain," influenced by the simpler Latin form explanare's variant explicare. Cognates include French expliquer, Spanish explicar, and Italian spiegare, all tracing back to the same Latin root that also gave English "planar" and "plain." The sense evolved from literally flattening something out to figuratively smoothing out confusion.
Related word forms
How explaining is actually used
"Explaining" functions both as a present participle forming progressive tenses ("is explaining") and as a gerund acting as a noun ("Explaining takes patience"). It is neutral in register, fitting equally well in formal and informal contexts. In informal speech, "explaining away" carries a slightly negative connotation of rationalizing or dismissing something rather than genuinely accounting for it.
Easily confused with explaining
"Explaining" means making something clear through description, while "exclaiming" means crying out suddenly, often in surprise or strong emotion.