explainer

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ɪkˈspleɪnɚ/ UK /ɪkˈspleɪnə/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a person or piece that explains; an explanatory account

The newspaper ran an explainer on how the new law would work.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person or piece that... expounder interpreter commentator guide tutorial exposition

Word family

Related forms explain explanation explanatory

Etymology

From explain + -er. Explain derives from Latin explanare ('to make plain'), from ex- ('out') + planus ('flat, plain').

explanare Latin planus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# explainer

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ɪkˈspleɪnɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪkˈspleɪnə/

## Meanings
1. a person or piece that explains; an explanatory account

## Examples
- The newspaper ran an explainer on how the new law would work.

## Synonyms
- expounder
- interpreter
- commentator
- guide
- tutorial
- exposition

## Related Forms
- explain
- explanation
- explanatory

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: explanare
- Root: planus

## Etymology
From explain + -er. Explain derives from Latin explanare ('to make plain'), from ex- ('out') + planus ('flat, plain').

## AI Etymology
Explainer comes from explain + -er. Explain derives from Latin explanare ('to make plain'), from ex- ('out') + planus ('flat, plain'). Morphologically, the account is both compositional and suffixal: ex- and -er marks the visible structure by which the older base becomes the modern form. In present use, it is used as a noun meaning "a person or piece that explains; an explanatory account", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes related forms such as explain, explanation, and explanatory, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include Latin explanare and Latin planus, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance. Its semantic neighborhood includes expounder, interpreter, commentator, and guide, locating the modern specialization without adding a new origin story.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown