elucidate vs explain

elucidate

verb
  • To make clear; to clarify; to shed light upon. 

explain

verb
  • To make plain, manifest, or intelligible; to clear of obscurity; to illustrate the meaning of. 

  • To give a valid excuse for past behavior. 

  • To make something plain or intelligible. 

How often have the words elucidate and explain occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )