elaborate
verbCA, US, UK /ɪˈlæb.ə.ɹeɪt/ · AU /ɪˈlæb.ə.ɹæɪt/
Etymology 1575, from Late Latin ēlabōrātus (“worked out”), past participle of ēlabōrō (“to work out”), from ē- (“out, forth, fully”) + labor (“work, toil, exertion”). More at e-, labour.
1
Тo develop in detail or complexity.
- […] by the time of the subsequent coronation, when the Prussian king put the crown on his own head in child-like belief of the obsolete doctrine called divine right, the untiring statesman had elaborated his scheme of reform.1871, “Bismarck”, in All the Year Round, volume 5, page 129:
- The notion of blood purity was first elaborated in Europe, where it was used to separate Old Christians from Spain’s New Christians—women and men of Jewish and Muslim origin whose ancestors had converted to Christianity.2009, Irene Silverblatt, “Foreword”, in Andrew B. Fisher, Matthew D. O'hara, editors, Imperial Subjects: Race and Identity in Colonial Latin America, page xi:
2
Sometimes To expand/enlarge in detail.
Followed by the prepositions on or upon
- What do you mean you didn't come home last night? Would you care to elaborate?
- Could you elaborate on the plot for your novel for me?
- Derived terms
- elaborated sap, elaborater, elaboration, elaborator