Explicit

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ɪkˈsplɪsɪt/

Definitions

1. Clearly articulated and presented in a straightforward manner without any hint of ambiguity or hidden meanings
2. Fully expressed, leaving no room for confusion or doubt, and openly revealing all details without concealment
3. Stated in a way that is easily understood without any vagueness or implication ; given with complete information and specific details so nothing is left uncertain

Etymology: The word's most surprising thread runs through a book ending. In medieval manuscripts, the Latin phrase "explicitus est liber" ("the book is set in order, ended") closed a text, and scribes wrote "explicit" alone as a conventional tag marking the finish of a work. That abbreviated usage is where the word's first sense as "the end" comes from, a far cry from the modern meaning. The Latin source, "explicitus," meant "disentangled" or "easy," from "explicare," "to unfold or unfold fully." Its path into English went through French "explicite," which carried the sense of something fully laid out with nothing left hidden. Over time, the notion of unfolding and unfolding completely shifted into the adjective we use now, describing statements that are stated plainly and leave no room for doubt.

Synonyms: clear, definite, unambiguous, specific, express

Antonyms: implicit, vague, ambiguous, indeterminate, unclear