explanator

An explanator is an agent, object, or system that provides explanations of ideas, events, or processes. In formal writing, the term is used to describe the function of clarification, justification, or illumination within a reasoning task or learning activity. An explanator may be a human tutor, a software tool, a part of a scientific theory, or any mechanism that makes a claim easier to understand by detailing causes, principles, or evidence.

Etymology: From Latin explanare meaning “to unfold” or “to explain,” with the agent noun suffix -ator. The term is not widely standardized in frequency and appears mainly in discussions of explanation and pedagogy.

Applications: In education, explanators help students connect new information to prior knowledge; in artificial intelligence, explainers or explanators (also called explainable AI modules) generate justifications for model outputs. In philosophy of science, explanatory models function as explanators by showing how phenomena relate to underlying mechanisms. Explanators can take various forms, including step-by-step procedures, causal chains, analogies, or visual representations.

Limitations: Explanations vary in depth and accessibility; an explanator’s effectiveness depends on user needs, prior knowledge, and context. Overly simplistic explanations risk misrepresentation, while overly technical ones can overwhelm non-expert audiences.

See also: explanation, explainable AI, explanatory model, pedagogy, tutoring.