different between elucidate vs decipher

English

Etymology

From Late Latin ?l?cid?tus, perfect passive participle of ?l?cid? (“clarify”), from Latin ex- and l?cidus (“clear”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??lu?.s?.de??t/
• (US) enPR: ?-lo?o'-s?-d?t

Verb

elucidate (third-person singular simple present elucidates, present participle elucidating, simple past and past participle elucidated)

1. (transitive) To make clear; to clarify; to shed light upon.
   • 1817, Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, ch. 13:

     The business, however, though not perfectly elucidated by this speech, soon ceased to be a puzzle.

   • 1960, "Medicine: Unmasking the Brain," Time, 4 April:

     [P]hysicians at the annual meeting of the American Academy of General Practice were fascinated by a 3-ft. model showing the brain's components in 20 layers of translucent plastic, and wired for colored lights to elucidate some of its workings.

   • 2004, David Bernstein, “Philosophy Hitches a Ride With ‘The Sopranos’,” New York Times, 13 April (retrieved 19 Aug. 2009):

     The new Sopranos volume has 17 essays that examine the television show and elucidate concepts from classical philosophers, including Aristotle, Machiavelli, Nietzsche, Sun Tzu and Plato.

   Synonyms: explicate, illuminate

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Italian

Verb

elucidate

1. second-person plural present indicative of elucidare
2. second-person plural imperative of elucidare

Participle

elucidate

1. feminine plural of the past participle of elucidare

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /e?.lu?.ki?da?.te/, [e???u?k??d?ä?t??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /e.lu.t??i?da.te/, [?lut??i?d???t??]

Verb

?l?cid?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of ?l?cid?

English

Alternative forms

• decypher

Etymology

As decypher, but not retaining the y from the Old French etyma of cipher (cyfre, cyffre); the i spelling tends to be preferred etymologically, being consistent with its cognates, the French déchiffrer and the Italian decifrare, and with their common ancestor, the Medieval Latin cifra, cifera, ciphra.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??sa?f?(?)/
• Rhymes: -a?f?(r)

Verb

decipher (third-person singular simple present deciphers, present participle deciphering, simple past and past participle deciphered)

1. (transitive) To decode or decrypt a code or cipher to plain text.
2. (transitive) To read text that is almost illegible or obscure.
3. (transitive) To find a solution to a problem.

Derived terms

Related terms

• decrypt

Translations

Noun

decipher (plural deciphers)

1. A decipherment; a decoding.
   • 1837, Arthur Wellesley Duke of Wellington, John Gurwood, The Dispatches of Field Marshall the Duke of Wellington, K.G.

     I enclose a letter which I received yesterday evening from the Marques de Monsalud, containing the decipher of a letter from the King to the Comte d'Erlon. I wish that the Marques had sent the ciphered letter here […]

Anagrams

• ciphered