éclaircissement

American  

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

noun

French.

plural

éclaircissements

1. clarification; explanation.

2. (initial capital letter) the Enlightenment.

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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

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

Of course, there are hundreds of English equivalents for éclaircissement.

From Somehow Good by De Morgan, William Frend

We came to a little éclaircissement one evening. 

From Charlotte Brontë and Her Circle by Shorter, Clement King

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

From Somehow Good by De Morgan, William Frend

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 Fenn, George Manville