One way to hold it: a lot of work has gone in, and you can see the work. Not one plain shape but many small parts fitted together — , layered, worked over until the detail itself is what you notice.
From the word’s history
From Late Latin ēlabōrātus, past participle of ēlabōrō “to work out”, from ē- (“out, fully”) + labor (“work, toil”) — literally “worked out fully”. Labour is visible in the modern word: everything elaborate is something someone put a lot of work into.
來自晚期拉丁文 ēlabōrātus（ēlabōrō「做出來、費力完成」的過去分詞），由 ē-（出來、徹底）加 labor（勞動、辛苦；就是 labour 那個字）組成，字面是「被徹底做出來的」。這個字根很有用，因為 labor 那份「花力氣」的意思一直留在現代用法裡：說一樣東西 elaborate，等於說有人在上面耗過工。
Wiktionary entry for “elaborate” (1575, from Late Latin ēlabōrātus < ē- + labor)
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原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
elaborateadj/ɪˈlæb.(ə.)ɹət/
- 1
Complex, detailed, or sophisticated.
- After reading a long, elaborate description, I was impressed but no wiser.
- 2
Intricate, fancy, flashy, or showy.
- I stared for hours at the elaborate pattern in the rug.
- The house was a big elaborate limestone affair, evidently new. Winter sunshine sparkled on lace-hung casement, on glass marquise, and the burnished bronze foliations of grille and door.
elaborateverb/ɪˈlæb.ə.ɹeɪt/
- 1
Тo develop in detail or complexity.
- […] by the time of the subsequent coronation, when the Prussian king put the crown on his own head in child-like belief of the obsolete doctrine called divine right, the untiring statesman had elaborated his scheme of reform.
- The notion of blood purity was first elaborated in Europe, where it was used to separate Old Christians from Spain’s New Christians—women and men of Jewish and Muslim origin whose ancestors had converted to Christianity.
- 2
To expand/enlarge in detail.
- What do you mean you didn't come home last night? Would you care to elaborate?
- Could you elaborate on the plot for your novel for me?
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。