Exposition

How to spell exposition

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce exposition

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does exposition mean?

1. nounA comprehensive description and explanation of an idea, theory, or argument.
2. nounA large public exhibition or display, especially of trade goods, art, or industry.
3. nounThe opening section of a movement in sonata form, in which the main themes are first presented.

Exposition in a sentence

• The lecturer opened with a clear exposition of the new tax rules.

• The city built a vast hall for the international exposition of new technology.

• The pianist repeated the exposition before moving into the development.

• The report includes a careful exposition of how the algorithm reaches its conclusions.

• Thousands of vendors booked stalls at the agricultural exposition.

• In the first movement the exposition introduces two contrasting melodies.

Where does exposition come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin expositio, a noun meaning 'a setting forth' or 'an explanation', built on the verb exponere. That verb combines ex, meaning 'out' or 'forth', with ponere, meaning 'to place' or 'to put', so the literal sense was to put something out in the open where it can be seen and understood. Latin already used it for the act of explaining or displaying ideas, and English took the word in through Old French during the late fourteenth century. Over time it branched into several specialised uses: a detailed explanation of a subject, a large public display of goods (the source of the modern shortening 'expo'), and the opening section of a piece of music that lays out its themes. The same ponere root quietly sits inside many relatives such as deposit, compose and position, and remembering that buried 'pos' (place) helps explain why the middle of exposition is spelled with an 's' rather than the 'z' sound you actually hear.

How the word is built

• ex- (out, forth)
• pos (from Latin ponere/positus: to place, put)
• -ition (noun-forming suffix)