éclaircissement

American  

[ay-kler-sees-mahn] / eɪ klɛr sisˈmɑ̃ /

noun

French.

• éclaircissements
  plural

1. clarification; explanation.

2. (initial capital letter) the Enlightenment.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• éclaircissements
  plural

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Explanation

Eclaircissement is clarifying something that initially seemed impossible to understand. Once your teacher sits down and patiently explains how to solve an equation, an eclaircissement can finally take place. When something obscure or incomprehensible is cleared up for you, that's eclaircissement. It's a bit like enlightenment, producing a significant change in the way you perceive or understand. You might experience an eclaircissement about your mysterious and cranky neighbor when you see him tenderly caring for his pet pigeons; you understand him more clearly. The French éclaircissement comes from the verb éclaircir, "to clear up," and a Latin root meaning "clear."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

éclaircissement éclaircissements

Now the coincidence of this meeting jolts him into an éclaircissement: "You're slow," said Loki, "but you get there in the end."

From The Guardian ● Aug. 19, 2011

In brief, there ensued upon the éclaircissement much storm on one side, much grief on the other, and keen pain to all,—to none more than to Everett.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 05, No. 28, February, 1860 by Various

I had not seen my cousin Edward since the occurrence of the grand éclaircissement; he must have studiously avoided me; I suppose from policy, it could not have been from delicacy.

From Two Ghostly Mysteries A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family; and the Murdered Cousin by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Pratt looked very solemn over it; but there was tremendous exultation in his heart as he thought of seeing Pin, for the family had left Russell Square directly after the unpleasant éclaircissement.

From Thereby Hangs a Tale Volume One by George Manville Fenn

"Yes—and you know what a rage Mrs. Erskine Peel is in, and says it was an éclaircissement."

From Somehow Good by William Frend De Morgan

The éclaircissements which the occasion required were followed by the resignation of the secretary.

From Life and Times of Washington, Volume 2 Revised, Enlarged, and Enriched by John Frederick Schroeder

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