overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

explore.

To seek for something or after someone.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ɪkˈsplɔː/Received-Pronunciation/ɪkˈsploɹ/General-American/ɪkˈsplo(ː)ɹ//ɪkˈsploə/
  1. To seek for something or after someone.

    intransitive · obsolete
  2. To examine or investigate something systematically.

    transitive
    The committee has been exploring alternative solutions to the problem at hand.
  3. To travel somewhere in search of discovery.

    transitive
    It was around that time that the expedition began exploring the Arctic Circle.
  4. To examine diagnostically.

    intransitive
  5. To (seek) experience first hand.

    transitive
    It is normal for a boy of this age to be exploring his sexuality.
  6. To be engaged exploring in any of the above senses.

    intransitive
    He was too busy exploring to notice his son needed his guidance.
  7. To wander without any particular aim or purpose.

    intransitive
    The boys explored all around till cold and hunger drove them back to the campfire one by one.
  8. To seek sexual variety, to sow one's wild oats.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs Proto-Italic *eks Latin ex Latin ex- Latin plōrō Latin explōrōder. Middle French explorerder. English explore From Middle French explorer, from Latin explōrāre (“to investigate, search out”), itself said to be originally a hunters' term meaning "to set up a loud cry", from ex- (“out”) + plōrāre (“to cry”), but the second element is also explained as "to make to flow" (from pluere (“to flow”)). Displaced native Old English rāsian.

noun/ɪkˈsplɔː/Received-Pronunciation/ɪkˈsploɹ/General-American/ɪkˈsplo(ː)ɹ//ɪkˈsploə/
  1. An exploration; a tour of a place to see what it is like.

    colloquial
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs Proto-Italic *eks Latin ex Latin ex- Latin plōrō Latin explōrōder. Middle French explorerder. English explore From Middle French explorer, from Latin explōrāre (“to investigate, search out”), itself said to be originally a hunters' term meaning "to set up a loud cry", from ex- (“out”) + plōrāre (“to cry”), but the second element is also explained as "to make to flow" (from pluere (“to flow”)). Displaced native Old English rāsian.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

explore has 7 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

explore studioexplore workshello, explore

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.