different between disclose vs explain

English

Etymology

From Middle English disclosen, from Middle French desclos, from Old French desclore, itself from Vulgar Latin disclaudere, from Latin dis- + claudere (“to close, shut”) or as a variant of discludo, discludere (cf. disclude).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?s?kl??z/
• Rhymes: -??z

Verb

disclose (third-person singular simple present discloses, present participle disclosing, simple past and past participle disclosed)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To open up, unfasten.
2. (transitive) To uncover, physically expose to view.

   Synonyms: reveal, unveil

   • 1695, John Woodward, An Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth and Terrestrial Bodies, especially Minerals, &c

     The shells being broken, […] the stone included in them is thereby disclosed and set at liberty.

   • 1972, Vladimir Nabokov, Transparent Things, McGraw-Hill 1972, p. 13:

     Its brown curtain was only half drawn, disclosing the elegant legs, clad in transparent black, of a female seated inside.

3. (transitive) To expose to the knowledge of others; to make known, state openly, reveal.

   Synonyms: reveal, unveil, divulge, publish, impart

   • If I disclose my passion, / Our friendship's at an end.

Synonyms

• (to expose to the knowledge of others): bring to light, expose, reveal; See also Thesaurus:divulge
• (to make known, state openly): impart, make known, publish; See also Thesaurus:announce

Antonyms

• cover up
• withhold

Derived terms

• discloser

Related terms

• disclosure

Translations

Noun

disclose (plural discloses)

1. (obsolete) A disclosure.

English

Etymology

From Middle English explanen, from Old French explaner, from Latin explan? (“I flatten, spread out, make plain or clear, explain”), from ex- (“out”) + plan? (“I flatten, make level”), from planus (“level, plain”); see plain and plane. Compare esplanade, splanade. Displaced Old English ?ere??an.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?sple?n/, /?k?sple?n/
• Rhymes: -e?n

Verb

explain (third-person singular simple present explains, present participle explaining, simple past and past participle explained)

1. To make plain, manifest, or intelligible; to clear of obscurity; to illustrate the meaning of.
2. To give a valid excuse for past behavior.
3. (obsolete) To make flat, smooth out.
4. (obsolete) To unfold or make visible.
   • April 14, 1684, John Evelyn, a letter sent to the Royal Society concerning the damage done to his gardens by the preceding winter

     The horse-chestnut is […] ready to explain its leaf.

5. (intransitive) To make something plain or intelligible.

Synonyms

• (give a sufficiently detailed report): expound, elaborate, recce

Derived terms

• afore-explained
• explain away
• explainer
• mansplain
• please explain
• -splain

Related terms

• explanation
• explanatory

Translations

Further reading

• explain in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• explain in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• explain at OneLook Dictionary Search