éclaircissement
Americannoun
-
clarification; explanation.
-
(initial capital letter) the Enlightenment.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
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
Seeing Emily in tears, and my father’s letter in her hand, he knew that an éclaircissement had taken place, or was in progress.
From Frank Mildmay Or, the Naval Officer by Marryat, Frederick
It would have been cruel to undeceive him; and nothing particular ever occurred to bring about an éclaircissement.
From Miles Wallingford Sequel to "Afloat and Ashore" by Cooper, James Fenimore
In the éclaircissement that followed the arrest of Celestine and Parsons he had striven to pose as the champion of Miss Forrest and to redouble his devotions.
From Laramie; or, The Queen of Bedlam. by King, Charles
A continuance of Court interviews and gossip, with the garrulity of Nemours himself and the Vidame, as well as the dropping of a letter by the latter, brings a complete éclaircissement nearer and nearer.
From A History of the French Novel, Vol. 1 From the Beginning to 1800 by Saintsbury, George
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 Schroeder, John Frederick
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
