expatiate

Etymology

From the participle stem of Latin expatior, from ex- + spatior (“walk about”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛkˈspeɪʃɪeɪt/

Verb

expatiate (third-person singular simple present expatiates, present participle expatiating, simple past and past participle expatiated)

1. (now rare) To range at large, or without restraint.
   • Alexander Pope

     Bids his free soul expatiate in the skies.

2. To write or speak at length; to be copious in argument or discussion, to descant.
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 35

     Now, as the business of standing mast-heads, ashore or afloat, is a very ancient and interesting one, let us in some measure expatiate here.

   • Addison

     He expatiated on the inconveniences of trade.

   • 1992 May 3, "Comrade Bingo" Jeeves and Wooster, Series 3, Episode 6:

     B.W. Wooster: If you ask me, art is responsible for most of the trouble in the world.
     R. Jeeves: An interesting theory, sir. Would you care to expatiate upon it?
     B.W. Wooster: As a matter of fact, no, Jeeves. The thought just occurred to me, as thoughts do.
     R. Jeeves: Very good, sir.

   • 2007, Clive James, Cultural Amnesia (Picador 2007, p. 847)

     “It can't fly,” he expatiated. “It can move forward only by hopping.”

3. (obsolete) To expand; to spread; to extend; to diffuse; to broaden.