Meanings
nounexploration (countable and uncountable, plural explorations)
plural explorations
- countableuncountableThe process of exploring.
By this time, largely inspired by The Railway Magazine, I had begun to spread my wings, and had started on a long career of railway exploration.
1957 July 28, M. D. Greville, “A Diamond Jubilee of Railway Memories”, in Railway Magazine, page 459 - countableuncountableThe process of penetrating, or ranging over for purposes of (especially geographical) discovery.
The exploration of unknown areas was often the precursor to colonization.
- countableuncountableThe (pre-)mining process of finding and determining commercially viable ore deposits (after prospecting), also called mineral exploration.
- countableuncountablemedicineA physical examination of a patient.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinexploratio
- Middle Frenchexploration
- Englishexploration
From Middle French exploration, from Latin exploratio. Morphologically explore + -ation.
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic اِسْتِكْشَاف
- اِسْتِكْشَاف (istikšāf)act of exploring
Bulgarian изсле́дване, проу́чване
- изсле́дване (izslédvane)act of exploring
- проу́чване (proúčvane)penetrating, or ranging over for purposes of (especially geographical) discovery
Catalan exploració
- exploracióact of exploring
Chinese Mandarin 勘探, 勘察
- 勘探 (kāntàn)act of exploring
- 勘察 (kānchá)act of exploring
Czech průzkum
- průzkumact of exploring
Danish udforskning, undersøgelse
- udforskningact of exploring
- undersøgelseact of exploring
- udforskningpenetrating, or ranging over for purposes of (especially geographical) discovery
- opdagelsepenetrating, or ranging over for purposes of (especially geographical) discovery
Dutch verkenning, exploratie
- verkenningact of exploring
- exploratieact of exploring
- exploratiepenetrating, or ranging over for purposes of (especially geographical) discovery
- ontdekkingsreispenetrating, or ranging over for purposes of (especially geographical) discovery
- ontdekkingstochtpenetrating, or ranging over for purposes of (especially geographical) discovery
Esperanto esplorado
- esploradoact of exploring
Estonian uurimine
- uurimineact of exploring
Finnish tutkiminen, tutkimus
- tutkiminenact of exploring
- tutkimusact of exploring
- tutkimusmatkaact of exploring
- löytöretkipenetrating, or ranging over for purposes of (especially geographical) discovery
- tutkimusretkipenetrating, or ranging over for purposes of (especially geographical) discovery
- tutkimusmatkapenetrating, or ranging over for purposes of (especially geographical) discovery
French exploration
- explorationact of exploring
German Erkundung, Erforschung
- Erkundungact of exploring
- Erforschungact of exploring
- Untersuchungact of exploring
- Entdeckungsreisepenetrating, or ranging over for purposes of (especially geographical) discovery
- Erkundungpenetrating, or ranging over for purposes of (especially geographical) discovery
- Erforschungpenetrating, or ranging over for purposes of (especially geographical) discovery
- Explorationgeological (mineral) exploration
Greek εξερεύνηση
- εξερεύνηση (exerévnisi)act of exploring
Hungarian felfedezés
- felfedezésact of exploring
Indonesian eksplorasi, eksplorasi
- eksplorasiact of exploring
- eksplorasipenetrating, or ranging over for purposes of (especially geographical) discovery
Irish taiscéalaíocht
- taiscéalaíochtact of exploring
Italian esplorazione
- esplorazioneact of exploring
Japanese 探検, 探査
- 探検 (tanken)act of exploring
- 探査 (tansa)act of exploring
- 精査 (seisa)act of exploring
- 探究 (tankyū)act of exploring
Korean 탐험, 탐사
- 탐험 (tamheom)act of exploring
- 탐사 (tamsa)act of exploring
- 답사 (dapsa)act of exploring
- 탐구 (tamgu)act of exploring
Latvian pētījums
- pētījumsact of exploring
Lithuanian tyrinėjimas
- tyrinėjimasact of exploring
Malay penjelajahan, penerokaan
- penjelajahanact of exploring
- penerokaanact of exploring
Norwegian Bokmål utforskning, utforsking
- utforskningact of exploring
- utforskingact of exploring
Persian کاوش, اکتشاف
- کاوش (kâvoš)act of exploring
- اکتشاف (ektešâf)act of exploring
Polish eksploracja, badanie
- eksploracjaact of exploring
- badanieact of exploring
Portuguese exploração
- exploraçãoact of exploring
Romanian explorare
- explorareact of exploring
Russian иссле́дование, изуче́ние
- иссле́дование (isslédovanije)act of exploring
- изуче́ние (izučénije)act of exploring
Scottish Gaelic rannsachadh
- rannsachadhact of exploring
Slovak prieskum
- prieskumact of exploring
Spanish exploración
- exploraciónact of exploring
Swedish utforskning, upptäcktsresa
- utforskningact of exploring
- upptäcktsresapenetrating, or ranging over for purposes of (especially geographical) discovery
Tagalog panggagalugad, eksplorasyon
- panggagalugadact of exploring
- eksplorasyonact of exploring
Turkish keşif
- keşifact of exploring
Ukrainian дослі́дження, дослі́джування
- дослі́дження (doslídžennja)act of exploring
- дослі́джування (doslídžuvannja)act of exploring
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with exploration
informationeducationlocationapplicationassociationadministrationorganizationcorporationregistrationAsianfoundationcommunicationpopulationnavigationstationaccommodationoperationpublicationvacationtransportationevaluationimplementationinstallationnation
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
exploration. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exploration
MLA
“exploration.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exploration. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “exploration,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exploration.
Source: exploration on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.