elaborate

English

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.

Pronunciation

• Adjective: ĭlă'bərət, IPA^(key): /ɪˈlæbəɹət/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Verb: ĭlă'bərāt, IPA^(key): /ɪˈlæbəɹeɪt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Adjective

elaborate (comparative more elaborate, superlative most elaborate)

1. Complex, detailed, or sophisticated.

   After reading a long, elaborate description, I was impressed but no wiser.

2. Intricate, fancy, flashy, or showy.

   I stared for hours at the elaborate pattern in the rug.

   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     The house was a big elaborate limestone affair, evidently new. Winter sunshine sparkled on lace-hung casement, on glass marquise, and the burnished bronze foliations of grille and door.

Derived terms

• elaborately
• elaborateness
• elaboration
• inelaborate
• overelaborate
• superelaborate
• unelaborate

 

Translations

detailed

Arabic: مُفَصَّل (mufaṣṣal) Bulgarian: сложен (bg) (složen), подробен (bg) (podroben) Chinese: 详尽的, 复杂的 Danish: detaljeret Dutch: gedetailleerd (nl), diepgaand (nl) Estonian: üksikasjalik, detailne Finnish: yksityiskohtainen (fi), perusteellinen (fi) Galician: detallado German: ausführlich (de), durchdacht (de) Hungarian: mélyreható (hu), alaposan kidolgozott Icelandic: ítarlegur (is) Italian: elaborato (it), dettagliato (it) Manx: yl-chast Polish: drobiazgowy (pl) Portuguese: detalhado (pt) Russian: доскона́льный (ru) (doskonálʹnyj), тща́тельно сде́ланный (tščátelʹno sdélannyj), скрупулёзный (ru) (skrupuljóznyj), проду́манный (ru) (prodúmannyj), подро́бный (ru) (podróbnyj) Swedish: detaljerad (sv) Turkish: ayrıntılı (tr), teferruatlı (tr), tafsilatlı (tr), detaylı (tr), mufassal (tr)

flashy or fancy

Bulgarian: изкусен (bg) (izkusen) Dutch: intrigerend (nl) Estonian: rikkalik (et) Finnish: huoliteltu (fi), taidokas (fi) Italian: intricato (it) Portuguese: elaborado (pt) Russian: замыслова́тый (ru) (zamyslovátyj), иску́сный (ru) (iskúsnyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Italian: (please verify) elaborato (it)

Verb

elaborate (third-person singular simple present elaborates, present participle elaborating, simple past and past participle elaborated)

1. (transitive) Тo develop in detail or complexity.

   Synonym: work out

   • 1871, “Bismarck”, in All the Year Round, volume 5, page 129:

     […] 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.

   • 2009, Irene Silverblatt, “Foreword”, in Andrew B. Fisher, Matthew D. O'hara, editors, Imperial Subjects: Race and Identity in Colonial Latin America, page xi:

     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.

2. (intransitive, sometimes followed by the prepositions on or upon) To expand/enlarge in detail.

   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

 

Translations

to develop in detail or complexity — see also work out

Czech: rozpracovat pf French: élaborer (fr) German: ausarbeiten (de) Hungarian: kidolgoz (hu) Italian: elaborare (it) Russian: разраба́тывать (ru) impf (razrabátyvatʹ), разрабо́тать (ru) pf (razrabótatʹ) Ukrainian: розробля́ти impf (rozrobljáty), розроби́ти pf (rozrobýty)

to give further detail or explanation

Armenian: մանրամասնել (hy) (manramasnel) Bulgarian: изпипвам (bg) (izpipvam), доразвивам (bg) (dorazvivam) Catalan: aprofundir (ca) Czech: rozvést (cs), rozpracovat Dutch: uitweiden (nl) Estonian: välja töötama, viimistlema Finnish: täsmentää (fi), kehitellä (fi), käsitellä yksityiskohtaisemmin, selittää tarkemmin French: approfondir (fr) German: ausführen (de) Greek: εμβαθύνω (el) (emvathýno) Hungarian: kifejt (hu) Italian: approfondire (it), dettagliare (it) Persian: شرح دادن (fa) Polish: rozwinąć (pl) Portuguese: argumentar (pt) Russian: разраба́тывать (ru) impf (razrabátyvatʹ), развива́ть (ru) impf (razvivátʹ), конкретизи́ровать (ru) impf (konkretizírovatʹ), вдава́ться в подро́бности impf (vdavátʹsja v podróbnosti), уточня́ть (ru) impf (utočnjátʹ) Spanish: profundizar (es), explayar (es) m, expandir (es), ahondar (es) Swedish: elaborera (sv), utveckla (sv)

References

• “elaborate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Ido

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /elaboˈrate/

Verb

elaborate

1. adverbial present passive participle of elaborar

Interlingua

Participle

elaborate

1. past participle of elaborar

Italian

Etymology 1

Adjective

elaborate

1. feminine plural of elaborato

Participle

elaborate f pl

1. feminine plural of elaborato

Etymology 2

Verb

elaborate

1. inflection of elaborare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /eː.la.boːˈraː.te/, [eːɫ̪äboːˈräːt̪ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /e.la.boˈra.te/, [eläboˈräːt̪e]

Verb

ēlabōrāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of ēlabōrō

Spanish

Verb

elaborate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of elaborar combined with te