exposition
noun/ɛkspəˈzɪʃən/
Etymology From Middle English exposicioun, from Old French esposicion, from Latin expositiō, from expōnere (“to put forth”). The sense meaning "exhibition" is a later semantic loan from French exposition.
8 senses
- 1The action of exposing something to something, such as…
- 2The act or process of declaring or describing something…
- 3The act of expulsion, or being expelled, from a place.
- 4An exhibition, especially of goods, artwork or cultural…
- 5An essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail.
- 6An opening section in fiction, in which background…
- 7The opening section of a movement in sonata form; the…
- 8The abandonment of an unwanted child.
The action of exposing something to something, such as skin to the sunlight.
Human sciences, Linguistics, Narratology, Sciences The act or process of declaring or describing something through either speech or writing, in nonfiction or in fiction; the portions and aspects of a piece of writing that exist mainly to describe or explain a set of things (such as, in fiction, the setting, characters and other non-plot elements).
- This essay has too much exposition in it.
- My reviewer said she couldn't picture the setting for my story, so I'm improving the exposition.
Obsolete The act of expulsion, or being expelled, from a place.
An exhibition, especially of goods, artwork or cultural displays to the public.
- The first prototype was unveiled at an exposition.
Authorship, Broadcasting, Communications, Film, Journalism, Literature, Media, Publishing, Television, Writing An essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail.
- I turned my research into an exposition on the traditional music of Borneo.
Human sciences, Linguistics, Narratology, Sciences An opening section in fiction, in which background information about the characters, events or setting is conveyed.
Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music The opening section of a movement in sonata form; the opening section of a fugue.
The abandonment of an unwanted child.
- Derived terms
- counterexposition, expo, expositional, expositionary, misexposition, sexposition
- Related terms
- exposé, exposit, expositive, expository, explanation, exegesis