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English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English pleyn , borrowed from Anglo-Norman pleyn , playn , Middle French plain , plein , and Old French plain , from Latin plānus ( “ flat, even, level, plain ” ) .
Alternative forms
Adjective
a plain bagel
plain (comparative plainer , superlative plainest )
( now rare , regional ) Flat , level .
Simple, unaltered .
Ordinary ; lacking adornment or ornamentation ; unembellished .
He was dressed simply in plain black clothes.
a plain tune
2013 September–October, Henry Petroski , “The Evolution of Eyeglasses ”, in American Scientist :The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight.
Of just one colour ; lacking a pattern .
a plain pink polycotton skirt
Simple in habits or qualities; unsophisticated , not exceptional, ordinary .
They're just plain people like you or me.
1861 , Abraham Lincoln , Message to Congress in Special Session, July 4th :the plain people
( of food ) Having only few ingredients, or no additional ingredients or seasonings ; not elaborate, without toppings or extras.
Would you like a poppy bagel or a plain bagel?
( computing ) Containing no extended or nonprinting characters (especially in plain text ).
Obvious .
Evident to one's senses or reason; manifest , clear , unmistakable .
1843 April, Thomas Carlyle , “ch. XV, Practical — Devotional”, in Past and Present , American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown , published 1843 , →OCLC , book II (The Ancient Monk):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.
Downright ; total, unmistakable (as intensifier).
His answer was just plain nonsense.
Open .
Honest and without deception; candid , open ; blunt .
Let me be plain with you: I don't like her.
1577 , Socrates Scholasticus [i.e. , Socrates of Constantinople ], “Constantinus the Emperour Summoneth the Nicene Councell, it was Held at Nicæa a Citie of Bythnia for the Debatinge of the Controuersie about the Feast of Easter, and the Rootinge out of the Heresie of Arius”, in Eusebius Pamphilus , Socrates Scholasticus, Evagrius Scholasticus , Dorotheus , translated by Meredith Hanmer , The Avncient Ecclesiasticall Histories of the First Six Hundred Yeares after Christ, Wrytten in the Greeke Tongue by Three Learned Historiographers, Eusebius, Socrates, and Euagrius. [...] , book I (The First Booke of the Ecclesiasticall Historye of Socrates Scholasticvs), imprinted at London: By Thomas Vautroullier dwelling in the Blackefriers by Ludgate , →OCLC , page 225 :[VV]e are able with playne demonſtration to proue, and vvith reaſon to perſvvade that in tymes paſt our fayth vvas alike, that then vve preached thinges correſpondent vnto the forme of faith already published of vs, ſo that none in this behalfe can repyne or gaynesay vs.
c. 1603–1606 , William Shakespeare , “The Tragedie of King Lear ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio ), London: Isaac Iaggard , and Ed Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , [Act II, scene v]:an honest mind, and plain , he must speak truth
1749 , Henry Fielding , The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling , volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI) , London: A Millar , , →OCLC :The Quaker was no sooner assured by this fellow of the birth and low fortune of Jones, than all compassion for him vanished; and the honest plain man went home fired with no less indignation than a duke would have felt at receiving an affront from such a person.
Clear; unencumbered; equal; fair.
1711 , Henry Felton , Dissertation on Reading the Classics :Our troops beat an army in plain fight.
Not unusually beautiful; unattractive .
1986 , John le Carré , A Perfect Spy :Yet her beauty clung to her like an identity she was trying to deny and her plainness kept slipping like a bad disguise.
Throughout high school she worried that she had a rather plain face.
( card games ) Not a trump .
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation
Arabic: بَسِيط (ar) ( basīṭ )
Moroccan Arabic: بسيط m ( bsīṭ )
Armenian: պարզ (hy) ( parz )
Azerbaijani: sadə (az)
Basque: apal , xume , lau (eu)
Bulgarian: прост (bg) ( prost ) , обикновен (bg) ( obiknoven )
Catalan: senzill (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 平的 (zh) ( píng de ) , 簡單 / 简单 (zh) ( jiǎndān ) , 平常 (zh) ( píngcháng ) , 質素 / 质素 (zh) ( zhìsù )
Czech: prostý (cs) , obyčejný (cs)
Dutch: eenvoudig (nl)
Finnish: selvä (fi) , yksinkertainen (fi) , tavallinen (fi)
French: simple (fr)
German: schlicht (de)
Greek:
Ancient: ψιλός ( psilós ) , λιτός ( litós )
Hungarian: egyszerű (hu)
Irish: pléineáilte , simplí
Italian: semplice (it)
Japanese: 平易な (ja) ( へいいな, heii na ) , 質素な (ja) ( しっそな, shisso na ) , 普段の (ja) ( ふだんの, fudan no ) , 普通の (ja) ( ふつうの, futsū no )
Kabuverdianu: kran
Korean: 소박한 ( sobakhan )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: (please verify ) سادە ( sade )
Northern Kurdish: sade (ku) , xwerû (ku)
Ladino: plano , sémplise ( Monastir )
Malagasy: sàha (mg)
Manchu: ᠪᡳᡤᠠᠨ ( bigan )
Maori: tōtōkau , tōkau , māmore , taramore , kōkau
Plautdietsch: schlicht
Polish: prosty (pl) , zwykły (pl) , zwyczajny (pl)
Portuguese: simples (pt)
Russian: просто́й (ru) ( prostój ) , обыкнове́нный (ru) ( obyknovénnyj ) , обы́чный (ru) ( obýčnyj )
Scottish Gaelic: sìmplidh
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: о̀бичан , је̏дноста̄ван
Roman: òbičan (sh) , jȅdnostāvan (sh)
Slovak: obyčajný (sk)
Slovene: preprost , navaden
Spanish: sencillo (es)
Swedish: vanlig (sv)
Tagalog: payak , pangkaraniwan , simple (tl)
Thai: ธรรมดา (th) ( tam-má-daa ) , งั้น ๆ (th) ( ngán-ngán )
Turkish: sade (tr)
unseasoned
Albanian: please add this translation if you can
Catalan: natural (ca) , simple (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Czech: please add this translation if you can
Danish: please add this translation if you can
Dutch: please add this translation if you can
Estonian: please add this translation if you can
Faroese: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: maustamaton (fi) , tavallinen (fi)
French: nature (fr)
German: Natur- (de)
Greek: please add this translation if you can
Ancient: please add this translation if you can
Hungarian: please add this translation if you can
Igbo: please add this translation if you can
Indonesian: please add this translation if you can
Irish: pléineáilte
Italian: al naturale ( of food ) , in bianco (it) ( of pasta or rice )
Japanese: please add this translation if you can
Kabuverdianu: kran
Korean: please add this translation if you can
Ladin: please add this translation if you can
Ladino: please add this translation if you can
Latin: non condītus
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Maltese: please add this translation if you can
Norwegian:
Bokmål: please add this translation if you can
Nynorsk: please add this translation if you can
Polish: nieprzyprawny ( dated ) , nieprzyprawiony
Portuguese: natural (pt) m or f , insípido (pt) m
Russian: please add this translation if you can
Slovak: bez príchute
Slovene: please add this translation if you can
Spanish: desabrido (es) , natural (es)
Swahili: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: sade (tr)
Veps: please add this translation if you can
Volapük: please add this translation if you can
Võro: please add this translation if you can
Votic: please add this translation if you can
computing: containing no non-printing characters
Adverb
plain (not comparable )
( colloquial ) Simply .
It was just plain stupid.
I plain forgot.
( archaic ) Plainly; distinctly.
Tell me plain : do you love me or no?
Etymology 2
From Old French plain , from Latin plānum ( “ level ground, a plain ” ) , neuter substantive from plānus ( “ level, even, flat ” ) . Doublet of llano , piano , and plane .
Noun
a plain
plain (plural plains )
An expanse of land with relatively low relief and few trees , especially a grassy expanse.
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”
Synonyms: flatland , grassland
Hypernyms: land , terrain
Hyponyms: prairie , steppe
A broad , flat expanse in general, as of water .
1850 , [Alfred, Lord Tennyson ], In Memoriam , London: Edward Moxon , , →OCLC , Canto IX:Fair ship, that from the Italian shore, Sailest the placid ocean-plains With my lost Arthur’s loved remains, Spread thy full wings, and waft him o’er.
( archaic ) Synonym of field in reference to a battlefield .
1899 , Alexander John Arbuthnot, Lord Clive: The Foundation of British Rule in India :You have stormed no town and found the money there ; neither did you find it in the plains of Plassey after the defeat of the Nawab
c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare , “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio ), London: Isaac Iaggard , and Ed Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , [Act V, scene iii]:Lead forth my soldiers to the plain .
( obsolete ) Alternative spelling of plane : a flat geometric field .
Usage notes
As with grassland (s ), flatland (s ), etc., plains can function as the plural of plain (There are ten principal low plains on Mars ) or as its synonym (She lives on the plains ), with a vague sense of greater expansiveness.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
an expanse of land with relatively low relief
Albanian: rrafsh (sq) m , rrah (sq) m , arë (sq) f
Arabic: سَهْل (ar) m ( sahl )
Moroccan Arabic: سهل m ( sahl )
Armenian: հարթավայր (hy) ( hartʿavayr ) , դաշտավայր (hy) ( daštavayr )
Aymara: pampa
Azerbaijani: düzənlik (az)
Belarusian: раўні́на f ( raŭnína )
Bulgarian: равни́на (bg) f ( ravnína )
Burmese: မြေပြန့် (my) ( mre-pran. )
Catalan: plana (ca) f , planura (ca) f , planícia f
Chechen: аре ( are )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 平原 (zh) ( píngyuán ) , 平野 (zh) ( píngyě )
Czech: planina f , pláň (cs) f , rovina (cs) f
Danish: slette (da) c
Dutch: vlakte (nl)
Eastern Bontoc: tanap , chator
Esperanto: ebeno (eo) , ebenaĵo
Estonian: tasandik
Finnish: tasanko (fi) , tasamaa
French: plaine (fr)
Galician: chaira (gl) f , chaúra f , chanzada f , zua f
Georgian: ვაკე ( vaḳe ) , ბარი (ka) ( bari )
German: Ebene (de) f
Greek: πεδιάδα (el) f ( pediáda ) , πεδίο (el) n ( pedío )
Ancient: πεδιάς f ( pediás ) , πεδίον n ( pedíon )
Hebrew: מִישׁוֹר (he) m ( mishór ) , עֲרָבָה (he) f ( 'aravá )
Hindi: मैदान (hi) m ( maidān )
Hungarian: alföld (hu) , síkság (hu) , róna (hu)
Icelandic: flatlendi (is) n
Ilocano: patag
Ingrian: lakkia , tasanko
Irish: machaire m , má f
Italian: pianura (it) f
Japanese: 平地 (ja) ( へいち, heichi ) , 平野 (ja) ( へいや, heiya )
Kabuverdianu: txada
Kazakh: жазаң ( jazañ ) , жазық ( jazyq ) , тегістік ( tegıstık )
Khmer: វាល (km) ( viəlĕəʼ ) , វាលរាប ( viəlriəp ) , វាលទំនាប ( viəltumniəp )
Korean: 평지 (ko) ( pyeongji ) , 평야 (ko) ( pyeong'ya )
Kyrgyz: түздүк (ky) ( tüzdük ) , түзөң (ky) ( tüzöŋ )
Lao: ທີ່ຮາບ ( thī hāp )
Latin: plānum n , plānitiēs (la) f
Latvian: līdzenums m
Lithuanian: lyguma f
Lubuagan Kalinga: talap
Macedonian: рамнина f ( ramnina )
Malay: dataran (ms)
Maori: mānia , pākihi
Mongolian: тал газар ( tal gazar )
Moroccan Amazigh: ⴰⵣⴰⵖⴰⵔ m ( azaɣar ) , ⴰⵣⵖⴰⵔ m ( azɣar )
Navajo: halgai
Neapolitan: chiana
Norwegian:
Bokmål: slette (no) m or f
Nynorsk: slette f , slett f
Nyunga: banitj
Occitan: plana (oc) f
Persian: جلگه (fa) ( jolge ) , هامون (fa) ( hâmun )
Polish: równina (pl) f
Portuguese: planície (pt) f
Quechua: pampa
Romanian: șes (ro) , câmpie (ro)
Russian: равни́на (ru) f ( ravnína )
Sanskrit: अज्र (sa) m ( ajra )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: равнѝца f
Roman: ravnìca (sh) f
Slovak: rovina f , planina f
Slovene: rovina f
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: rownina f , płonina f , płoń f
Southern Kalinga: tanap
Spanish: llanura (es) f , planicie (es) f
Swahili: tambarare class n
Swedish: slätt (sv) c
Tagalog: patag
Tajik: дашт ( dašt ) , ҳомун ( homun )
Tashelhit: ⴰⵣⴰⵖⴰⵔ m ( azaḡar ) , azaɣar m
Telugu: బయలు (te) ( bayalu )
Tetum: rai tetuk
Thai: ที่ราบ (th) ( tîi-râap )
Tibetan: ཐང ( thang )
Turkish: düzlük (tr) , ova (tr)
Turkmen: düzlük
Ukrainian: рівни́на f ( rivnýna )
Uzbek: tekislik (uz)
Vietnamese: đồng bằng (vi)
Walloon: plin (wa) m , plinne (wa) f
Welsh: gwastatir m , gwastadedd (cy) m , gwastad (cy) m
Zazaki: merg (diq)
Zhuang: please add this translation if you can
Verb
plain (third-person singular simple present plains , present participle plaining , simple past and past participle plained )
( obsolete , transitive ) To level ; to raze ; to make plain or even on the surface .
1594 (first publication), Christopher Marlow[e] , The Trovblesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edvvard the Second, King of England: , London: for Henry Bell, , published 1622 , →OCLC , (please specify the page) :Frownst thou thereat aspiring Lancaster, The sworde shall plane the furrowes of thy browes,
1612 , George Wither , Prince Henrie’s Obsequies , Elegy 24, in Egerton Brydges (editor), Restituta , Volume I, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1814, p. 399,
Though kept by Rome ’s and Mahomet ’s chiefe powers; They should not long detain him there in thrall: We would rake Europe rather, plain the East ; Dispeople the whole Earth before the doome:
( obsolete , transitive ) To make plain or manifest ; to explain .
c. 1607–1608 , William Shakeſpeare , The Late, And much admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. , London: Imprinted at London for Henry Goſſon , , published 1609 , →OCLC , [Act III, Prologue] :What’s dumb in show, I’ll plain with speech.
Etymology 3
From Anglo-Norman plainer , pleiner , variant of Anglo-Norman and Old French pleindre , plaindre , from Latin plangere , present active infinitive of plangō .
Alternative forms
Noun
plain (plural plains )
( rare , poetic ) A lamentation .
1815 , Sir Walter Scott , The Lady of the Isles , Canto IV, part IX:The warrior-threat, the infant's plain , The mother's screams, were heard in vain;
Verb
plain (third-person singular simple present plains , present participle plaining , simple past and past participle plained )
( reflexive , obsolete ) To complain .
( transitive , intransitive , now rare , poetic ) To lament , bewail .
to plain a loss
c. 1600 , John Ayliffe , Satires :Thy mother could thee for thy cradle set Her husband's rusty iron corselet; Whose jargling sound might rock her babe to rest, That never plain' d of his uneasy nest.
1834 , L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon] , chapter II, in Francesca Carrara. , volume III, London: Richard Bentley , , (successor to Henry Colburn ), →OCLC , page 9 :Then, again, she almost thought that the soft and wailing wind which swept mournfully through the sepulchral boughs of the large old yews, had a voice not of this world—was it the inarticulate plaining of her brother's gentle spirit, debarred from intercourse, but still keeping over her the deep and eternal watch of love?
1936 , 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
Etymology 4
From Middle English pleyn , borrowed from Old French plein , from Latin plēnus ( “ full, filled, complete ” ) . Ultimately from Proto-Italic *plēnos , from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós ( “ full ” ) . Doublet of plene , plenary , and full .
Adjective
plain (comparative plainer , superlative plainest )
( obsolete ) Full , complete in number or extent.
Anagrams
Dalmatian
Etymology
From Latin plēnus . Compare Italian pieno , Romansch plain , Romanian plin , French plein .
Adjective
plain (feminine plaina )
full
French
Etymology
Inherited from Old French plain , from Latin plānus . Doublet of plan and piano .
Pronunciation
Adjective
plain (feminine plaine , masculine plural plains , feminine plural plaines )
( obsolete ) plane
Derived terms
Further reading
Anagrams
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French plain , from Latin plēnus .
Adjective
plain m (feminine singular plaine , masculine plural plains , feminine plural plaines )
full (not empty)
Old French
Etymology 1
From Latin plēnus .
Adjective
plain m (feminine plaine )
full (not empty)
Antonym: vuit
Descendants
Etymology 2
From Latin plānum ( “ level ground, a plain ” ) , neuter substantive from plānus ( “ level, even, flat ” ) .
Noun
plain oblique singular , m (oblique plural plainz , nominative singular plainz , nominative plural plain )
plain (flat area)
Synonyms
Descendants
→ Dutch: plein
→ Middle English:
Etymology 3
From Latin plānus ( “ level, even, flat ” ) .
Adjective
plain m (oblique and nominative feminine singular plaine )
flat (not even or mountainous)
Romansch
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin plēnus .
Adjective
plain m (feminine singular plaina , masculine plural plains , feminine plural plainas )
( Rumantsch Grischun , Puter , Vallader ) full