plain

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English [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

From Anglo-Norman pleyn, playn, Middle French plain, plein, from Latin plānus (“flat, even, level, plain”).

Adjective [edit]

a plain bagel

plain (comparative plainer, superlative plainest)

  1. (now rare, regional) Flat, level. [from 14th c.]
  2. Ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation; unembellished. [from 14th c.]
    He was dressed simply in plain black clothes.
  3. Evident to one's senses or reason; manifest, obvious, clear, unmistakable. [from 14th c.]
    • 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 2, ch. XV, Practical — Devotional
      In fact, by excommunication or persuasion, by impetuosity of driving or adroitness in leading, this Abbot, it is now becoming plain everywhere, is a man that generally remains master at last.
  4. Downright; total, unmistakable (as intensifier). [from 14th c.]
    His answer was just plain nonsense.
  5. Honest and without deception; candid, open; blunt. [from 14th c.]
    Let me be plain with you: I don't like her.
  6. Simple in habits or qualities; unsophisticated, not exceptional, ordinary. [from 16th c.]
    They're just plain people like you or me.
  7. Not unusually beautiful; unattractive. [from 17th c.]
    Throughout high school she worried that she had a rather plain face.
  8. (of food) Having only few ingredients, or no additional ingredients or seasonings; not elaborate, without toppings or extras. [from 17th c.]
    Would you like a poppy bagel or a plain bagel?
  9. (computing) Containing no extended or nonprinting characters (especially in plain text). [from 20th c.]
Synonyms [edit]
Antonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Derived terms
Related terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation
unseasoned
computing: containing no non-printing characters

Adverb [edit]

plain (not comparable)

  1. (colloquial) Simply
    It was just plain stupid.
    I plain forgot.

Etymology 2 [edit]

From Anglo-Norman plainer, pleiner, variant of Anglo-Norman and Old French pleindre, plaindre, from Latin plangere, present active infinitive of plangō.

Noun [edit]

plain (plural plains)

  1. (rare, poetic) A lamentation.

Verb [edit]

plain (third-person singular simple present plains, present participle plaining, simple past and past participle plained)

  1. (transitive, intransitive, now rare, poetic) To lament, bewail.
    to plain a loss
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir J. Harrington to this entry?)
    • Alfred Edward Housman, More Poems, XXV, lines 5-9
      Then came I crying, and to-day,
      With heavier cause to plain,
      Depart I into death away,
      Not to be born again.
Related terms [edit]

Etymology 3 [edit]

From Old French plain, from Latin plānum (“level ground, a plain”), neuter substantive from plānus (“level, even, flat”).

Noun [edit]

Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia

a plain

plain (plural plains)

  1. An expanse of land with relatively low relief.
    • 1961, J. A. Philip. Mimesis in the Sophistês of Plato. In: Proceedings and Transactions of the American Philological Association 92. p. 467.
      For Plato the life of the philosopher is a life of struggle towards the goal of knowledge, towards “searching the heavens and measuring the plains, in all places seeking the nature of everything as a whole”
  2. (obsolete) A plane.
Synonyms [edit]
Antonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Related terms [edit]
See also [edit]
Translations [edit]
an expanse of land with relatively low relief

Verb [edit]

plain (third-person singular simple present plains, present participle plaining, simple past and past participle plained)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To plane or level; to make plain or even on the surface.
    • Wither
      We would rake Europe rather, plain the East.
  2. (obsolete, transitive) To make plain or manifest; to explain.
    • Shakespeare
      What's dumb in show, I'll plain in speech.

Statistics [edit]

Anagrams [edit]

Dalmatian [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Latin plēnus. Compare Italian pieno, Romansch plain, Romanian plin, French plein.

Adjective [edit]

plain

  1. full

French [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Latin plānus

Pronunciation [edit]

Adjective [edit]

plain m (feminine plaine, masculine plural plains, feminine plural plaines)

  1. (obsolete) plane

Anagrams [edit]

Middle French [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Latin plēnus.

Adjective [edit]

plain m (feminine singular plaine, masculine plural plains, feminine plural plaines)

  1. full (not empty)

Old French [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Latin plēnus.

Adjective [edit]

plain m (feminine plaine)

  1. full (not empty)

Antonyms [edit]

Descendants [edit]

Romansch [edit]

Alternative forms [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Latin plēnus.

Adjective [edit]

plain m f plaina, m plural plains, f plural plainas)

  1. (Rumantsch Grischun, Puter, Vallader) full
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