expatiate Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing
    expound; lucubrate; dilate; elaborate; enlarge; exposit; flesh out; expand.
    • She elaborated on the main ideas in her dissertation

WordNet

Ex*pa"ti*ate intransitive verb
Etymology
L. expatiatus, exspatiatus, p. p. of expatiari, exspatiari, to expatiate; ex out + spatiari to walk about spread out, fr. spatium space. See Space.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Expatiated ;present participle & verbal noun Expariating
Definitions
  1. To range at large, or without restraint.
    Bids his free soul expatiate in the skies. Pope.
  2. To enlarge in discourse or writing; to be copious in argument or discussion; to descant.
    He expatiated on the inconveniences of trade. Addison.
Ex*pa"ti*ate transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To expand; to spread; to extend; to diffuse; to broaden.
    Afford art an ample field in which to expatiate itself. Dryden.

Webster 1913