Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To bring or draw out (something latent); educe.
- v. To arrive at (a truth, for example) by logic.
- v. To call forth, draw out, or provoke (a reaction, for example). See Synonyms at evoke.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To draw out; bring forth or to light; evolve; gain: as, to elicit sparks by collision; to elicit truth by discussion; to elicit approval.
- Immediately directed to an end: opposed to imperate.
- Performed by the will itself without the aid of any other faculty: as, volition, nolition, choice, consent, and the like are elicit acts: opposed to imperate.
Wiktionary
- v. To evoke, educe (emotions, feelings, responses, etc.); to generate, obtain, or provoke as a response or answer.
- v. To draw out, bring out, bring forth (something latent); to obtain information from someone or something.
- v. To use logic to arrive at truth; to derive by reason; deduce; construe.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. obsolete Elicited; drawn out; made real; open; evident.
- v. To draw out or entice forth; to bring to light; to bring out against the will; to deduce by reason or argument.
WordNet 3.0
- v. deduce (a principle) or construe (a meaning)
- v. derive by reason
- v. call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)
Etymologies
- Latin elicitus from elicere, to draw forth (Wiktionary)
- Latin ēlicere, ēlicit- : ē-, ex-, ex- + lacere, to entice. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Of course, this answer is the one I suspect that Dawkins wishes to elicit from the reader of "Meet my cousin, the chimpanzee".”
“A similar problem unfolds in stanza five as the speaker seeks to elicit from the urn a transcendental message both aesthetic and ontological that will bring the poem to thematic and formal closure and that will confirm the urn's (and the poem's) status as a revelatory Romantic symbol.”
“The first step, however, was to elicit from the Germans a concrete statement of aims.”
14. Peace Negotiations, 1916-1917, and the Intervention of the United States, 1917
“Meanwhile Dr Malan made an attempt to elicit from the Germans a more definite indication of their intentions towards South Africa.”
“And this is pretty much the standard crest-and-trough reaction I elicit from the Chinese.”
“i wonder how many “kill it” posts this will elicit from the local contingent of bitter, pizza-faced, boys.”
“But country-of-origin labels elicit an even more perplexing question.”
“Say Chinnery to any art buff under 40 and the name will elicit no response, and now that Tate Britain has all but abandoned its responsibility to keep successive generations aware of historic British painting, it is probable that Chinnery will be for ever lost to common knowledge, obliterated, with many other once known artists, by the enforced fashion there for contemporary art.”
“I also loved that you used 'elicit' and 'illicit' within the same piece, and close together.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘elicit’.
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1100
abound, technology, branch of knowled..., prognosticate, automaton, matron, an older married ..., realm, special field of ..., kingdom, annals, historical records and 981 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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EN - confusables
Similar words meaning different things
accept, except, adverse, averse, advice, advise, affect, effect, aisle, isle, all together, altogether and 134 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
zealot, wistful, welter, wary, whimsical, warranted, vortex, vivisection, volatile, vitiate, viscous, visage and 787 more...
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GRE 2014
abate, abdicate, abase, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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(1st_wk_150)-Dec_5_2012
replete, steeped, eminent, indiscriminate, voracious, automaton, prognosticate, technology, abound, matron, tinge, compound and 297 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2053 more...
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week 2
deft, clad, innuendo, erroneous, vehement, impetuous, vacuous, corpulent, provincial, din, fluctuate, sporadic and 8 more...
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GRE 1100
drudgery, implore, hapless, nuance, wrest, incipient, inadvertent, tremulous, bristle, euphemism, disdain, pugnacious and 346 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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TECH - Steve Jobs
visionary, redefine, digital, founder, era, computer, cultural, product, global, gaunt, frail, executive and 76 more...
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1100 words you need to know
GRE words
voracious, indiscriminate, eminent, steeped, replete, abound, technology, prognosticate, automaton, matron, paradox, realm and 288 more...
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sort of sexy
pressure, press, urgency, squeezing, influence, compel, push, tease, thrust, full, drive, urge on and 99 more...
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Verba Dilecta
delectable, notate, pauciloquy, paucity, pauciloquent, paucify, interscapilium, uropygium, inferna, nota, equipollent, prepollent and 677 more...
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Need to Know!
elicit, educe, refute, cogency, churlish, martinet, veritable, polyglot, dissemble, histrionics, prevarication, verbiage and 166 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for elicit.
Dan337 “The lawyer tries to elicit a description of the attacker from the witness. ‘Elicit’ is always a verb. ‘Illicit,’ in contrast, is always an adjective describing something illegal or naughty.”
— Paul Brians. “Elicit/Illicit”. Common Errors in English Usage Sep 7, 2011