動詞 explain:

1. make plain and comprehensible
   同義詞：explicate
2. define
3. serve as a reason or cause or justification of
   同義詞：excuse

1. That explains his absence.
   他缺席就是這個原因。
2. I don't understand your argument. Could you explain yourself a bit more?
   我不明白你的論點，你能把意思再說清楚些嗎？
3. She explained her conduct to her boss.
   她向老板說明了自己那種表現的原因。
4. The lawyer explained the new law to us.
   律師向我們解釋了新法律。
5. That explains why she is not here.
   那就說明了她不在這里的原因。

ex.plain

v.（動詞）
ex.plained,ex.plain.ing,ex.plains
v.tr.（及物動詞）
To make plain or comprehensible.
說明：使變清楚或可理解
To define; expound:
解釋；說明：
例句：
We explained our plan to the committee.
我們把自己的方案向委員會做了說明

To offer reasons for or a cause of; justify:
辯解：為…提供原因或理由；為…辯護：
例句：
explain an error.
為錯誤辯護

To offer reasons for the actions, beliefs, or remarks of (oneself).
答辯：為（自己的）行為、信仰或評價提供依據
v.intr.（不及物動詞）
To make something plain or comprehensible:
解釋：使變清楚或可理解：
例句：
Let me explain.
請讓我解釋

<常用詞組>explain away
To dismiss or get rid of by or as if by explaining.
辯護：用解釋或類似的辦法消除或擺脫
To minimize by explanation.
辯白：用解釋減少
來源：
Middle English explanen
中古英語 explanen
from Latin expl3n3re
源自 拉丁語 expl3n3re
ex- [intensive pref.] * see ex-
ex- [強調性前綴] *參見 ex-
pl3nus [clear] * see pel…- 2
pl3nus [清楚的] *參見 pel…- 2

【引伸】
explain.able
adj.（形容詞）
<參考詞匯><同義詞>explain,elucidate,expound,explicate,interpret,construeThese verbs mean to make understandable the nature or meaning of something.
這些動詞都意味著使某事的性質或意思變得可理解。
Explain is the most widely applicable:
Explain 是應用最廣的：
例句：
explained the difficult words and obscure symbols;
解釋那些難懂的詞和難解的符號；

例句：
tried to explain himself. Toelucidate is to throw light on something complex:
試圖為他自己辯解。 Elucidate 意思是解釋說明復雜的事物：

例句：
.Man`s whole life and environment have been laid open and elucidated. (Thomas Carlyle).Expound and explicate imply detailed and usually learned and lengthy exploration or analysis:
.人的整個生命和生活環(huán)境都已得到說明和闡釋. （托馬斯·卡萊爾）。Expound 和 explicate 指詳細的并且通常是學術的和冗長的考察與分析：

例句：
.We must never forget that it is aconstitution we are expounding. (John Marshall).
.我們永遠不應忘記那是憲法 ，對此我們正在加以解釋. （約翰·馬歇爾）。

例句：
.Ordinary language philosophers tried to explicate the standards of usage underlying the linguistic behavior of those who do not abuse this freedom. (Jerrold J. Katz).Tointerpret is to reveal the underlying meaning of something by the application of special knowledge or insight:
.普通語言學家試圖解釋用法的標準，這種標準潛藏在那些不濫用這種自由的人們的語言行為中. （杰羅爾德J·卡茨）。Interpret 意思是用特殊的知識或洞察力來揭示某事潛在的意思：

例句：
.If a poet interprets a poem of his own he limits its suggestibility. (William Butler Yeats).
.如果一個詩人解釋他自己的一首詩，他就限制了它的暗示性. （威廉姆·巴特勒·濟慈）。

Construe involves putting a particular construction or interpretation on something:
Construe 涉及的意思是給某事一個通俗的解釋或說明：
例句：
.I take the official oath today . . . with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules. (Abraham Lincoln).
.今天我正式宣誓…沒有用偽善的原則去解釋憲法或法律的意圖. （亞伯拉罕·林肯）。

例句：
Why do you construe my silence as a sign of disapprovalô
為什么你把我的沉默當成不同意的標志？