explosive (English)

Where does "explosive" come from?

The English adjective 'explosive' derives from the combination of the Latin stem 'explōs-', which comes from the verb 'explōdō', and the suffix '-ive'[1]. The Latin root itself is formed from 'ex-' meaning 'out' combined with 'plaudō' meaning 'to clap' or 'to applause'[2].

Full etymology tree

• explosive (English), 'Able to, or likely to, explode.'
  • affix explōs- (Latin)
    • derived explodo (Latin), 'to eject (originally drive an actor off a stage by clapping/booing)'
      • prefix ex- (Latin), 'out, away'
      • affix plaudo (Latin), 'to strike, beat, clap'
  • suffix -ive (English), 'An adjective suffix signifying relating or belonging to, of the nature of, tending to, or serving to; as: affirmative, active, conclusive, corrective, diminutive.'

Descendants and derived words

• autoexplosive (English)
• contact explosive (English)
• cryptoexplosive (English)
• electroexplosive (English)
• electroexplosive (English)
• explosive belt (English)
• explosive cyclogenesis (English)
• explosive decompression (English)
• explosive gelatin (English)
• explosive lens (English)
• explosively (English)
• explosiveness (English)

Related words

• bomb (English)
• hazard (English)

Sources

1. explosive (English) - Wiktionary
2. explodo (Latin) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris