éclaircissement
Americannoun
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éclaircissements
plural
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clarification; explanation.
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(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
An éclaircissement, accompanied by mortifying circumstances, was not, however, long delayed.
From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 459 Volume 18, New Series, October 16, 1852 by Robert Chambers
Then all became clear, the éclaircissement giving him a start, and sending the blood in quick rush through his veins—pleasant withal.
From The Free Lances A Romance of the Mexican Valley by Mayne Reid
The tenderest and completest éclaircissement takes place, and they are happily united.
From Jane Austen, Her Life and Letters A Family Record by William Austen-Leigh
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 George Saintsbury
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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