exposition
/ɛkspəˈzɪʃən/ noun
Forms expositions
- noun The action of exposing something to something, such as skin to the sunlight.
- noun (narratology) The act or process of declaring or describing something through either speech or writing, in nonfiction or in fiction; the portions and aspects of a piece of writing that exist mainly to describe or explain a set of things (such as, in fiction, the setting, characters and other non-plot elements). “This essay has too much exposition in it.”
- noun (obsolete) The act of expulsion, or being expelled, from a place.
- noun An exhibition, especially of goods, artwork or cultural displays to the public. “The first prototype was unveiled at an exposition.”
- noun (authorship) An essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail. “I turned my research into an exposition on the traditional music of Borneo.”
- noun (narratology) An opening section in fiction, in which background information about the characters, events or setting is conveyed.
- noun (music) The opening section of a movement in sonata form; the opening section of a fugue.
- noun The abandonment of an unwanted child.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English exposicioun, from Old French esposicion, from Latin expositiō, from expōnere (“to put forth”). The sense meaning "exhibition" is a later semantic loan from French exposition.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The act of exposing or laying open; a setting out or displaying to public view.
- noun The act of expounding or of laying open the sense or meaning of an author, or a passage; explanation; interpretation; the sense put upon a passage; a law, or the like, by an interpreter; hence, a work containing explanations or interpretations; a commentary.
Etymology [L. expositio, fr. exponere, expositum: cf. F. exposition. See Expound.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “exposition”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details