explode

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰ
2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰs
3. Proto-Italic*eks
4. Latinex
5. Latinex-
6. Proto-Indo-European*pleth₂-?
7. Proto-Indo-European*pel-?
8. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₂-
9. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₂-u-h₂-
10. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₂-u-d-
11. Latinplaudō
12. Latinexplōdō
13. English todayexplode

First recorded around 1538, from the Latin verb explōdere (“drive out or off by clapping”). The meaning was originally theatrical, "to drive an actor off the stage by making noise," hence meaning to "to drive out" or "to reject". From ex- (“out”) + plaudere (“to clap; to applaud”). In English it used to mean to "drive out with violence and sudden noise" (from around 1660), and later meaning to "go off with a loud noise" (from around 1790). The sense of "bursting with destructive force" is first recorded around 1882.