element meaning "into, in, on, upon" (alsoim-,il-,ir-by assimilation of-n-with following consonant), from Latinin-"in," from PIE root*en"in." In Old French (and hence in Middle English) this often becameen-, which in English had a strong tendency to revert to Latinin-, but ...
1620s, "action of driving out with violence and noise," from Frenchexplosion, from Latinexplosionem(nominativeexplosio) "a driving off by clapping," noun of action from past participle stem ofexplodere"drive out by clapping" (seeexplodefor origin and sense evolution). Meaning "a going off wi...