speculate vs explicate

speculate and explicate both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
speculate	No	No	Yes	No
explicate	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, explicate is a hyponym of speculate; that is, explicate is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than speculate:

Other hyponyms of speculate include construct, reconstruct, retrace, develop, formulate.

speculate (verb)	explicate (verb)
reflect deeply on a subject	make plain and comprehensible
to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds	elaborate, as of theories and hypotheses
talk over conjecturally, or review in an idle or casual way and with an element of doubt or without sufficient reason to reach a conclusion
invest at a risk