Etymograph

English

explode

Explode comes from Latin explōdō ‘drive out or off by clapping’, from plaudō ‘to clap’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂-u-d-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-u-d-1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplaudō1‘to clap’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplōdō2as explōdere‘drive out or off by clapping’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1749explode2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin explodo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English explode
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones: “[W]henever the person who is possessed of [natural goodness]…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-u-d-Wiktionary, Latin explodoreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplaudōWiktionary, Latin explodo‘to clap’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplōdōWiktionary, English explodeas explōdere‘drive out or off by clapping’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1749explodeWiktionary, English explode. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones: “[W]henever the person who is possessed of [natural goodness]…”

first attested First recorded around 1538, from the Latin verb explōdere (“drive out or off by clapping”) (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First recorded around 1538, from the Latin verb explōdere (‘drive out or off by clapping’). The meaning was originally theatrical, "to drive an actor off the stage by making noise," hence meaning to "to drive out" or "to reject". In English it used to mean to "drive out with violence and sudden noise" (from around 1660), and later meaning to "go off with a loud noise" (from around 1790). The sense of "bursting with destructive force" is first recorded around 1882.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin plaudō ‘to clap’

applause, 3 more

Today it means

verb To fly apart with sudden violent force; to blow up, to burst, to detonate, to go off.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “explode”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin explodo. 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-u-d- / explode

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