esplanade

The story

1. Latin · derived fromexplānāre
2. Spanish · derived fromesplanada
3. French · borrowed fromesplanade“clear, level space”
4. English todayesplanade

1590s, from French esplanade (“clear, level space”), from either Spanish esplanada (explanada), form of esplanar (“to flatten, to make level”) or Italian spianata, form of spianare (of the same meaning), both from Latin explānāre, from which English explain; see also plain (“level area, to flatten”).