Etymology

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#EXPOUNDCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#EXPOUND expounden, from Old FrenchCategory:English terms derived from Old French#EXPOUND espondre, from LatinCategory:English terms derived from Latin#EXPOUND exponere. Doublet of expone and exposeCategory:English doublets#EXPOUND.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪkˈspaʊnd/, /ɛkˈspaʊnd/Category:English 2-syllable words#EXPOUNDCategory:English 2-syllable words#EXPOUNDCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#EXPOUND

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#EXPOUND,

  Audio (US):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#EXPOUND
• Rhymes: -aʊndCategory:Rhymes:English/aʊnd#EXPOUNDCategory:Rhymes:English/aʊnd/2 syllables#EXPOUND

Verb

expound (third-person singular simple present expounds, present participle expounding, simple past and past participle expounded)Category:English lemmas#EXPOUNDCategory:English verbs#EXPOUNDCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#EXPOUNDCategory:Pages with entries#EXPOUNDCategory:Pages with 1 entry#EXPOUND

1. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#EXPOUND) To set out the meaning of; to explain or discuss at length.

   Synonym: spell out

   Today I'll expound at length the theory propounded last week.Category:English terms with usage examples#EXPOUND

   • 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter III, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC, pages 63–64:

     “ […] Some day, when you are tired of London, come down to Treadley, and expound to me your philosophy of pleasure over some admirable Burgundy I am fortunate enough to possess.”

     Category:English terms with quotations#EXPOUND

   • 1891, John Stuart Verschoyle, The History of Modern Civilization: A Handbook, page 204:

     Ramus, fascinated by Plato and by the dialogues in which Socrates expounds his ideas with as much simplicity as freedom, endeavoured to Socratise in his turn.

     Category:English terms with quotations#EXPOUND

   • 2016, Enric Pérez, Blai Pié i Valls, “Bohr and Ehrenfest: transformations and correspondences in the early 1920s”, in European Physical Journal H, volume 41, →DOI, page 108:

     The impossibility of explaining the Stern-Gerlach result is what he and Ehrenfest tried to show with their “little calculation”. This joint paper had a markedly Ehrenfestian character, as in it, after expounding several arguments, the issue remains open.

     Category:English terms with quotations#EXPOUND

2. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#EXPOUND, with on or upon) To make a statement, especially at length.

   He expounded often on the dangers of the imperial presidency.Category:English terms with usage examples#EXPOUND

   • 2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Evesham (1870)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 59:

     Fowler was also interested in metallurgy and the use of new materials that could withstand greater stresses, something he expounded on when giving his presidential address to the new Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1927.

     Category:English terms with quotations#EXPOUND