statement - a message that is stated or declared; a communication (oral or written) setting forth particulars or facts etc; "according to his statement he was in London on that day"

explanandum, explicandum - (logic) a statement of something (a fact or thing or expression) to be explained

explanans - (logic) statements that explain the explicandum; the explanatory premises

simplification - a explanation that omits superfluous details and reduces complexity

accounting - a convincing explanation that reveals basic causes; "he was unable to give a clear accounting for his actions"

reason - an explanation of the cause of some phenomenon; "the reason a steady state was never reached was that the back pressure built up too slowly"

justification - a statement in explanation of some action or belief

exposition - an account that sets forth the meaning or intent of a writing or discourse; "we would have understood the play better if there had been some initial exposition of the background"

explication - a detailed explanation of the meaning of something

gloss, rubric - an explanation or definition of an obscure word in a text

deriving, etymologizing, derivation - (historical linguistics) an explanation of the historical origins of a word or phrase

definition - a concise explanation of the meaning of a word or phrase or symbol

interpretation - an explanation that results from interpreting something; "the report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence"

walk-through - a thorough explanation (usually accompanied by a demonstration) of each step in a procedure or process; "she gave me a walk-through of my new duties"

interpreting, rendering, rendition, interpretation - an explanation of something that is not immediately obvious; "the edict was subject to many interpretations"; "he annoyed us with his interpreting of parables"; "often imitations are extended to provide a more accurate rendition of the child's intended meaning"

cerebration, intellection, mentation, thinking, thought - the process of thinking (especially thinking carefully); "thinking always made him frown"; "she paused for thought"

rationale, principle - (law) an explanation of the fundamental reasons (especially an explanation of the working of some device in terms of laws of nature); "the rationale for capital punishment"; "the principles of internal-combustion engines"

cornerstone, fundament, groundwork, basis, foundation, base - the fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained; "the whole argument rested on a basis of conjecture"

key - something crucial for explaining; "the key to development is economic integration"

natural history - the systematic account of natural phenomena

rationalization, rationalisation - the cognitive process of making something seem consistent with or based on reason

theory - a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena; "theories can incorporate facts and laws and tested hypotheses"; "true in fact and theory"

speech act - the use of language to perform some act

elucidation - an act of explaining that serves to clear up and cast light on

explication - the act of making clear or removing obscurity from the meaning of a word or symbol or expression etc.