Etymograph

English

explanator

Explanator comes from Latin explānātor ‘explainer, interpreter’, from plānus ‘level, flat, even’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-1‘flat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₂nós1reconstructedderived within Proto-Indo-European
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plānos1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplānus1‘level, flat, even’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplānō2‘to flatten out, make plain, explain’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplānātor2‘explainer, interpreter’
  7. Englishtodayexplanator2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin explano
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English explanator

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-Wiktionary, Latin explano‘flat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₂nósWiktionary, Latin explanoreconstructedderived within Proto-Indo-European
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plānosWiktionary, Latin explanoreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplānusWiktionary, Latin explano‘level, flat, even’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplānōWiktionary, English explanator‘to flatten out, make plain, explain’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplānātorWiktionary, English explanator‘explainer, interpreter’
  7. EnglishtodayexplanatorWiktionary, English explanator

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- ‘flat’

field, floor, palm, planet, clan, archipelago, fluke, parma, playa, placenta, flounder, lech, palatine, polonium, pelagic, implacable, flay, placate, veld, plantar, floe, purdah, planta, 48 more

through Proto-Italic *plānos

plane, planar, 13 more

through Latin plānus ‘level, flat, even’

plan, plain, llano, 15 more

through Latin explānō ‘to flatten out, make plain, explain’

esplanade, unexplainable, explainable, 5 more

Today it means

noun One who explains.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “explanator”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin explano. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- / explanator

Shirt and support for this word