- Today's Word
Elucidate
ih-LOO-suh-dayt
Definition
(verb) To make something clear; to explain in detail.
Example
The teacher used real-world examples to elucidate the concept for the class.
Fun Fact
In courtroom dramas, professors’ lectures, and long-winded essays, elucidate is a go-to term for cutting through confusion. It’s favored in academia and science writing, where clarity is key—but it’s also used in journalism and even tech tutorials. The opposite of obfuscate, it’s a word that signals you’re about to shed light on something murky.
(noun) A natural craving or strong desire; an instinctive inclination toward something
She couldn’t explain her appetence for solo travel — it was simply part of who she was.
Appetence comes from the Latin appetentia, derived from appetere — meaning “to strive after” or “to desire” — itself a combination of ad (“toward”) and petere (“to seek” or “to aim at”). The word entered English in the 17th century, used by philosophers and naturalists to describe instinctive drives in both humans and animals.