elaborate

Etymology

1575, from Late Latin ēlabōrātus (“worked out”), past participle of ēlabōrō (“to work out”), from ē- (“out, forth, fully”) + labor (“work, toil, exertion”). More at e-, labour.

adj

1. Complex, detailed, or sophisticated.
   After reading a long, elaborate description, I was impressed but no wiser.
2. Intricate, fancy, flashy, or showy.
   I stared for hours at the elaborate pattern in the rug.

verb

1. (transitive) to develop in detail or complexity
   […] by the time of the subsequent coronation, when the Prussian king put the crown on his own head in child-like belief of the obsolete doctrine called divine right, the untiring statesman had elaborated his scheme of reform. 1871, “Bismarck”, in All the Year Round, volume 5, page 129
   The notion of blood purity was first elaborated in Europe, where it was used to separate Old Christians from Spain’s New Christians—women and men of Jewish and Muslim origin whose ancestors had converted to Christianity. 2009, Irene Silverblatt, “Foreword”, in Andrew B. Fisher, Matthew D. O'hara, editors, Imperial Subjects: Race and Identity in Colonial Latin America, page xi
2. (intransitive) (sometimes followed by on or upon, and then the object of the preposition) to expand/enlarge in detail
   What do you mean you didn't come home last night? Would you care to elaborate?
   Could you elaborate on the plot for your novel for me?