plein

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Dutch

Etymology

From Old French plain, from Latin plānum (“level ground, a plain”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”). Its use for "square" is an innovation, replacing Middle Dutch plaetse in standard language (compare dialectal plaats). Compare English plain, plane, Portuguese chão, Spanish llano.

Pronunciation

Noun

plein n (plural pleinen, diminutive pleintje n)

  1. square, plaza
    Het plein van ons dorp werd onlangs heraangelegd met nieuwe bloemenperken.
    The square in our village was recently redone with new flowerbeds.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → Papiamentu: plenchi, pleintji, pleintsje (from the diminutive), plein

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French plein, from Latin plēnus, from Proto-Italic *plēnos, from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós (“full”). Compare Catalan ple; Italian pieno; Portuguese cheio; Romanian plin; Sardinian prenu; Spanish lleno; English plene.

Pronunciation

Adjective

plein (feminine pleine, masculine plural pleins, feminine plural pleines)

  1. full, full up
    La voiture est pleine. ― The car is full.
    C’est plein de légendes. ― It's full of stories
  2. plenty
    Il y a plein de choses à faire. ― There are plenty of things to do.
  3. solid
  4. (astronomy, of a moon) full
  5. (preceded by en) mid-; middle
    en plein match ― (right) in the middle of a match
    en plein concert ― mid-concert
    en plein essor ― on the rise
    en pleine attaque ― mid-attack
  6. (biology, of an animal) pregnant

Derived terms

Related terms

Adverb

plein

  1. (of the four cardinal points) due
    Aller plein sud ― To go due north
  2. (colloquial) a lot, lots of, many
    J’en ai plein du monde ici ― I have lots of people here

Noun

plein m (plural pleins)

  1. full tank (of gas)
  2. downstroke (of a letter)

Derived terms

Preposition

plein

  1. (somewhat colloquial) in; all over; filling
    Avoir du vin plein sa cave. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
    J’ai de l’argent plein mes poches. ― I have money filling up my pockets.

Derived terms

Further reading

Anagrams

Louisiana Creole

Etymology

From French plein (“full”).

Determiner

plein

  1. many

References

  • Alcée Fortier, Louisiana Folktales

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin plēnus.

Pronunciation

Adjective

plein m (oblique and nominative feminine singular pleine)

  1. full (at capacity with respect to space)

Related terms

Descendants

Romansch

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin plēnus.

Adjective

plein m (feminine singular pleina, masculine plural pleins, feminine plural pleinas)

  1. (Sursilvan) full
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