expatiate

verb ex·pa·ti·ate \ ek-ˈspā-shē-ˌāt \

Definition of expatiate

expatiated; expatiating

intransitive verb

1 : to move about freely or at will : wander

2 : to speak or write at length or in detail

expatiating upon the value of the fabric
—Thomas Hardy

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expatiation

play \(ˌ)ek-ˌspā-shē-ˈā-shən\ noun

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Examples of expatiate in a Sentence

the naturalist is known for her willingness to expatiate on any number of issues relating to wildlife and the environment

Recent Examples of expatiate from the Web

Alex Tizon’s essay can be read not simply as an attempt to confess a crime and expatiate his family’s guilt.

— jean m. twenge, The Atlantic, "The Conversation," 8 Aug. 2017
Tizon’s essay can be read not simply as an attempt to confess a crime and expatiate his family’s guilt.

— vicente rafael, The Atlantic, "Lola’s Resistant Dignity," 31 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'expatiate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

The Latin antecedent of "expatiate" is "exspatiari," which combines the prefix ex- ("out of") with "spatiari" ("to take a walk"), itself from "spatium" ("space" or "course"). Exspatiari means "to wander from a course" and, in the figurative sense, "to digress." But when English speakers began using "expatiate" in 1538, we took "wander" as simply "to move about freely." In a similar digression from the original Latin, we began using "expatiate" in a figurative sense of "to speak at length." That's the sense of the word most often used these days, usually in combination with "on" or "upon."