Noun explanation has 3 senses
  1. explanation, account - a statement that makes something comprehensible by describing the relevant structure or operation or circumstances etc.; "the explanation was very simple"; "I expected a brief account"
    --1 is a kind of statement
    --1 has parts: explicandum, explanandum; explanans
    --1 has particulars:
     simplification; accounting; reason; justification; exposition; explication; gloss, rubric; deriving, derivation, etymologizing; definition; interpretation; walk-through
    Derived form: verb explain2
  2. explanation - thought that makes something comprehensible
    --2 is a kind of
    thinking, thought, cerebration, intellection, mentation
    --2 has parts:
     basis, base, foundation, fundament, groundwork, cornerstone
    --2 has particulars:
     interpretation, interpreting, rendition, rendering; rationale, principle; key; natural history; rationalization, rationalisation; theory
  3. explanation - the act of explaining; making something plain or intelligible; "I heard his explanation of the accident"
    --3 is a kind of
    speech act
    --3 has particulars: elucidation; explication
    Derived forms: verb explain3, verb explain1
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