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Address vs Explain - What's the difference?

address | explain |

In obsolete terms the difference between address and explain

is that address is act of preparing oneself while explain is to unfold or make visible.

As verbs the difference between address and explain

is that address is to prepare oneself while explain is to make plain, manifest, or intelligible; to clear of obscurity; to illustrate the meaning of.

As a noun address

is direction or superscription of a letter, or the name, title, and place of residence of the person addressed.

address

Noun

(es)
  • Direction or superscription of a letter, or the name, title, and place of residence of the person addressed.
  • Act of addressing oneself to a person; a discourse or speech.
  • * 1887 , Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet , VII:
  • Mr. Gregson, who had listened to this address with considerable impatience, could contain himself no longer.
  • Manner of speaking to another; delivery.
  • Attention in the way one addresses a lady.
  • Skill; skillful management; dexterity; adroitness.
  • * 1813 , "Customs, Manners, and present Appearance of Constantinople", The New Annual Register, or General Repository of History, Politics, and Literature for the year 1812 , p. 179 (Google preview):
  • At their turning-lathes, they employ their toes to guide the chisel; and, in these pedipulations, shew to Europeans a diverting degree of address .
  • (obsolete) Act of preparing oneself.
  • A description of the location of a property.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-14, author=(Jonathan Freedland)
  • , volume=189, issue=1, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Obama's once hip brand is now tainted , passage=Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet. Perhaps we assume that our name, address and search preferences will be viewed by some unseen pair of corporate eyes, probably not human, and don't mind that much.}}
  • (by extension) The property itself.
  • (computing) A location in computer memory.
  • (Internet) An Internet address; URL.
  • Derived terms

    * subaddress, subaddressing

    Synonyms

    * adroitness * discourse * harangue * ingenuity * lecture * oration * petition * readiness * speech * tact

    Verb

  • (obsolete) To prepare oneself.
  • * (rfdate), (William Shakespeare)
  • Let us address to tend on Hector's heels.
  • (obsolete) To speech.
  • * (rfdate), (John Dryden)
  • Young Turnus to the beauteous maid addrest .
  • (obsolete) To aim; to .
  • * (rfdate), (Edmund Spenser)
  • And this good knight his way with me addrest .
  • (obsolete) To prepare or make ready.
  • * (rfdate), (Edmund Spenser)
  • His foe was soon addressed .
  • * (rfdate), (John Dryden)
  • Turnus addressed his men to single fight.
  • * (rfdate), (Jeremy Taylor)
  • The five foolish virgins addressed themselves at the noise of the bridegroom's coming.
  • (reflexive) To prepare oneself; to apply one's skill or energies (to some object); to betake.
  • * (rfdate) (Thomas Babington Macaulay)
  • These men addressed themselves to the task.
  • * 1851 , (Herman Melville), (Moby Dick) ,
  • [...] good heavens! dumplings for supper! One young fellow in a green box coat, addressed himself to these dumplings in a most direful manner.
  • (archaic) To clothe or array; to dress.
  • * (rfdate) Jewel
  • Tecla ... addressed herself in man's apparel.
  • To direct, as words (to any one or any thing); to make, as a speech, petition, etc. (to any one, an audience).
  • * (rfdate) (John Dryden)
  • ''The young hero had addressed his players to him for his assistance.
  • To direct speech to; to make a communication to, whether spoken or written; to apply to by words, as by a speech, petition, etc., to speak to; to accost.
  • * (rfdate) (Joseph Addison)
  • Are not your orders to address the senate?
  • * (rfdate) (Jonathan Swift)
  • The representatives of the nation addressed the king.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Peter Wilby)
  • , volume=189, issue=6, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Finland spreads word on schools , passage=Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16.
  • To direct in writing, as a letter; to superscribe, or to direct and transmit.
  • To make suit to as a lover; to court; to woo.
  • To consign or intrust to the care of another, as agent or factor.
  • To address oneself to; to prepare oneself for; to apply oneself to; to direct one's speech or discourse to.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03
  • , author=Lee A. Groat, volume=100, issue=2, page=128, magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Gemstones , passage=Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […] . (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)}}
  • (formal) To direct attention towards a problem or obstacle, in an attempt to resolve it.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 19, author=Josh Halliday, work=The Guardian
  • , title= Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised? , passage="By all means we want people to use social media, but we do not want you to use it in ways that will incite violence," said Jonathan Toy, Southwark council's head of community safety. "This remains a big issue for us and without some form of censorship purely focusing on [violent videos], I'm not sure how we can address it."}}
  • (computing) To refer a location in computer memory.
  • (golf) To get ready to hit the ball on the tee.
  • Usage notes

    * The intransitive uses can be understood as omission of the reflexive pronoun.

    explain

    English

    (Explanation)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make plain, manifest, or intelligible; to clear of obscurity; to illustrate the meaning of.
  • *
  • The boy became volubly friendly and bubbling over with unexpected humour and high spirits. He tried to persuade Cicely to stay away from the ball-room for a fourth dance. Nobody would miss them, he explained .
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03
  • , author=, volume=100, issue=2, page=106 , magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Pixels or Perish , passage=Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse. Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.}}
  • To give a valid excuse for some past behavior.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=David Simpson
  • , volume=188, issue=26, page=36, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Fantasy of navigation , passage=It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next; […].}}
  • (obsolete) To make flat, smooth out.
  • (obsolete) To unfold or make visible.
  • * (John Evelyn) (1620-1706)
  • The horse-chestnut isready to explain its leaf.

    Synonyms

    * (give a sufficiently detailed report) expound, elaborate