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单词 plain
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plainn.1

Brit. /pleɪn/, U.S. /pleɪn/
Forms: Middle English playn, Middle English plein, Middle English pleine, Middle English pleyn, Middle English pleyne, Middle English–1500s playne, Middle English–1600s plaine, Middle English– plain, 1800s– plaain (English regional (Lincolnshire)); Scottish pre-1700 plaine, pre-1700 plane, pre-1700 playn, pre-1700 playne, pre-1700 plegn, pre-1700 plen, pre-1700 pleyn, pre-1700 1700s– plain.
Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymons: French plain; French pleine.
Etymology: Partly < Old French, Middle French plain flat terrain (c1100; French†plain ; < classical Latin plānum : see plane n.3), and partly < Anglo-Norman pleine, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French plaine expanse of land (c1140; French plaine ), use as noun of feminine of plain plain adj.2 With Old French, Middle French, French plain compare Old Occitan, Occitan plan (a1126), Catalan pla (c1300), Spanish †plano (978), llano (1207); with Old French, Middle French, French plaine compare Old Occitan, Occitan plana (c1300), Catalan plana (late 13th cent.), Spanish llana (1207), †plana (1258).With the form plegn compare Anglo-Norman and Old French plaigne (c1100) < an unattested post-classical Latin form *plania , a derivative of classical Latin plānum (see above); compare Old Occitan planha (c1200), Spanish †llaña (1293), Friulian plañe . With sense 2b compare Dutch plein open space outside a building, town square (16th cent. in this sense; in Middle Dutch in more general senses; < French). In sense 4 now superseded by plane n.3 In sense 8 after French la Plaine (1797 in the passage translated in quot. 1797 at sense 8), so-called on account of the fact that the party occupied seats on the floor of the hall in the French National Convention. Attested earlier as a surname (Ernald de la Pleyne (1283)), and as a place name (La Plaine (c1320); now The Plains, Cambridgeshire), although it is unclear whether these are to be interpreted as reflecting the Middle English or the Anglo-Norman word.
A flat or level thing.
1.
a. A broad tract of land which is comparatively flat; an expanse of level ground; (occasionally) terrain of this kind.Frequently in place names, as Cheshire Plain, Salisbury Plain, etc. the Plains (Anglo-Indian): the area of the northern river valleys of India. Cities of the Plain: the biblical cities on the plain of Jordan in ancient Palestine, notably Sodom and Gomorrah before their destruction on account of the wickedness of their inhabitants ( Genesis 19:24).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > level land > [noun] > level place or plain
fieldeOE
wong971
field landOE
woldc1220
flat1296
plainc1325
field placec1384
champaign?a1400
floor?a1400
smeethc1440
plain-land1487
weald1544
champian1589
camp1605
level1623
campaign1628
planure1632
campania1663
esplanade1681
flatland1735
vlakte1785
steppe1837
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > valley > [noun] > specific valley
the Plains1886
rift valley1894
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 155 (MED) Vpe þe plein of salesbury þat oþer wonder is, Þat ston heng is icluped.
a1350 in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 12 (MED) Þis proude freinsshe eorles..aquelleden and slowen by hulles & by pleynes.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 1775 (MED) Þe stormes ras on ilka side..þe water wex oute ouer þe plains.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. l. 10633 Þe bataile suld be in a playne bituex tuo waters.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 255/1 Playne, a grounde that is without hylles, planier, playne.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 7 Heir agane sall ȝe se braid planes.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. v. 256 The citie of Cairasan standeth vpon a sandie and desert plaine.
1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xiii. sig. Ff5 A Plain being a very improper place for such a purpose.
1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews I. ii. xii. 252 Ah! see, the dear Nymph o'er the Plain, Comes smiling and tripping along. View more context for this quotation
1769 T. Gray Ode at Installation Duke of Grafton 51 On Granta's fruitful plain.
1839 H. W. Longfellow Hyperion I. i. vi The valley..opens upon the broad plain of the Rhine, like the mouth of a trumpet.
1886 R. Kipling Departm. Ditties (ed. 2) 27 Will you stay in the Plains till September?
1899 North-Western Advocate (Devonport) 18 Jan. 3/5 The country all along the coast is open heathy plain, with rising ground at intervals.
1924 E. M. Forster Passage to India xiv. 135 ‘I won't be bottled up,’ announced the girl. ‘I've no patience with these women here who leave their husbands grilling in the plains.’
1949 A. E. Trueman Geol. & Scenery Eng. & Wales v. 78 These conditions are peculiar to the Cheshire plain and to the west Midlands, for salt does not occur in quantity in the red marls of other areas.
1975 R. P. Jhabvala Heat & Dust 33 The poor old Sahibs who had to stay and sweat it out in the plains.
2001 A. M. Jones Last Year's River i. 5 The cottonwoods isolated in the lowest, moist pleats of the plain.
b. figurative and in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > state of sea > [noun] > smooth sea
softnessc1275
smoothnessc1374
plain1566
hyaline1667
smooth1667
serene1772
sea level1873
1566 T. Drant tr. Horace Medicinable Morall sig. Av Thou..wyth passage moyste Shall cutte the frothie playne, A merye marchaunte shalte thou row.
1567 T. Drant tr. Horace Pistles in tr. Horace Arte of Poetrie sig. Fvj Then whilst thy ship doth kepe a flote Ydauncinge on the plaine.
1615 W. Goddard Neaste of Waspes ccii. sig. Hii If vaprous Fumes of Neptunes glassie plaine Doe once but through the Icie region gaine That exhalation..Doth proue a Commett or bright-blazing light.
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1654 (1955) III. 115 After dinner..we passd over that goodly plaine or rather Sea of Carpet.
1691 T. Heyrick Misc. Poems 6 The watry Plains I view'd with pleased Eyes. Fearless the noise of Storms I hear, The foaming Surges bring no cause of fear.
1706 I. Watts Horæ Lyricæ i. 9 Now the full Glories of the Lamb Adorn the Heavenly Plains.
1729 A. Pope Dunciad (new ed.) iii. 78 The sick'ning Stars fade off the a'thereal plain.
1816 H. Downing Mary 44 When sanguine youth the plain of life surveys, It does not calculate on rainy days.
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick cxii. 539 Does the..ocean alluringly spread forth his whole plain of unimaginable, taking terrors.
1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 9 The great grey level plains of ooze where the shell-burred cables creep.
1916 J. Joyce Portrait of Artist iii. 144 Human life lay around him, a plain of peace whereon antlike men laboured in brotherhood.
1933 D. Macdonald Brooks of Morning 181 They had to dip down abruptly from the pinnacles of metaphor to the plains of plain fact.
1993 I. Banks Complicity 158 The bank on this side is low, only, half a metre above the white plain of the snow-covered river.
c. Originally North American. Chiefly in plural. A large, more or less treeless expanse, with a level or undulating surface; grasslands, prairie; spec. (in form Plains) a vast area of plains to the east of the Rocky Mountains in North America, the location of a major American Indian culture area.Frequently attributive (see Compounds 2).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > level land > [noun] > open (level) land
fieldeOE
champaignc1420
champian1570
overture1579
campagnaa1664
plain1755
1755 L. Evans Anal. Gen. Map Middle Brit. Colonies 13 The rest have retired beyond the woodless Plains over the Mississippi.
1779 G. R. Clark Campaign in Illinois (1869) 29 We came into those level Plains that is frequent throughout this extensive Country.
1820 J. Oxley Jrnls. Two Exped. New S. Wales 83 Free from timber or brush in various places;..these tracts have hitherto received the particular denomination of plains.
1824 E. Curr Accts. Van Diemen's Land 55 The district called Macquarie Plains,..the plains bear a strong resemblance to what are called sheep downs in England.
1875 J. H. Temple & G. Sheldon Hist. Northfield, Mass. 19 Plains..[applied] by the early settlers..to certain well defined tracts that had some common peculiarity of soil and condition, were nearly free from trees, and could be readily cultivated.
1896 O. T. Mason in Ann. Rep. Board of Regents Smithsonian Inst.1895 646 There may be said to have been eighteen American Indian environments or culture areas, to wit: Arctic, Athapascan, Algonquian, Iroquoian, Muskhogean, Plains of the Great West, North Pacific Coast, [etc.].
1907 O. T. Mason in F. W. Hodge Handbk. Amer. Indians I. 428 Twelve ethnic environments may be distinguished... (1) Arctic... (2) Yukon-Mackenzie... (7) Plains. This environment lies between the Rocky mts. and the fertile lands w. of the Mississippi.
1947 Reader's Digest Oct. 78/1 Black blizzards roared across the Plains, devastating crops.
1972 T. McHugh Buffalo iii. 19 The sweeping expanse of North American grassland is properly called prairie in the east and plains in the west.
1989 M. Dorris Broken Cord xi. 185 Risk taking in some cultures, especially on the plains, is so valued.
2.
a. A meadow, a field; a clearing in a forest. Now archaic and rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > grassland > [noun] > meadow land > meadow
meadOE
meadowOE
meadlOE
plainc1330
praiere?c1335
meadow?a1400
sike1479
preea1625
sitch1842
smooth1845
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) 2191 (MED) King Ban hadde to his demeyne..cites and borwes, castels and pleyns.
c1330 Seven Sages (Auch.) (1933) 755 (MED) In þe forest was a plein, And in þe pleyn a tre of hawes.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) 6908 (MED) In myddes þar was a playn Þat was wont be sawen and tylde; Þe remenand was with wode fulfilled.
1468–9 Ayr Burgh Court Bks. f. 109 That na man sal set hous to na licht women with in the plen of the mercat with in na plas.
c1500 King & Hermit in M. M. Furrow Ten 15th-cent. Comic Poems (1985) 251 He wold gladly be [þer] in þe pleyn, And þeder he gan to ryde.
1589 in E. W. McMullen Eng. Topogr. Terms in Florida (1953) 171 A lowe plaine or medow ground through the which our troopes passed.
1628 E. Coke 1st Pt. Inst. Lawes Eng. 5 b Frythe is a plain between woods.
1733 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. at Lawn A great Plain in a Park, or a spacious Plain adjoining to a noble Seat.
1872 O. W. Holmes Poet at Breakfast-table 23 The College plain would be nothing without its elms.
1932 T. E. Lawrence tr. Homer Odyssey iv The plain of your lordship is wide, rich in clover and water-grass and wheat and grain and also strong-strawed white barley.
b. English regional (chiefly East Anglian). A flat or open space in a town. Chiefly in place names.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > part of town or city > [noun] > open space
open space1696
plainc1720
c1720 in K. I. Sandred & B. Lindström Place-names Norfolk (1989) I. 85 Redwell Plain [a Norwich street-name].
1766 in K. I. Sandred & B. Lindström Place-names Norfolk (1989) I. 137 St Martins Plain [Norwich street-name].
1846 Oxf. Directory 74/2 St. Clement's plain.
1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words II Plain, an open space surrounded by houses nearly answering to the Italian Piazza. In the city of Norwich there are several: as St. Mary's Plain, the Theatre Plain, &c.
a1888 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 179 Beyond Mágdalen and by the Bridge, on a place called there the Plain.
1982 Financial Times (Nexis) 23 Jan. i. 15 The University of East Anglia (University Plain, Norwich).
1996 K. I. Sandred Place-names Norfolk II. 29 Yarmouth,..Church Plain, near the parish church of St. Nicholas.
3. With the: an open space constituting the scene of a battle or contest; the field of battle. Also figurative. Now archaic and rare. †to take the plain: = to take the field at field n.1 Phrases 5. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > war > wage war [verb (intransitive)] > go to war
to take the plainc1380
to go to war or warsc1450
to take the field1482
to go (etc.) on warfare1483
to pass (forth) in warfare1483
field1535
to go out1548
to go to the war(s)1600
to be (also go) on the warpath1841
to wash one's spears1892
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) 148 (MED) For ȝester neite wan we had fiȝt ȝonder out on þe playne, A þousent þer we putte to fliȝt, & x þousent þer wern sleyne.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vi. 1847 (MED) This queene unto a pleine rod..To se..lusti folk jouste and tourneie.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iii. 1663 (MED) Al þat ilke day Hector hadde, formest on þe plein, In þe frounter of þe Grekis leyn.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid x. x. 146 Quhil fynaly Ascanyus the ȝyng page, And the remanent of Troiane barnage,..Thayr strenth hes left, and takyn hes the plane.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III v. vi. 211 I will leade forth, my souldiers to the plaine . View more context for this quotation
1729 Life Robert Bruce ii. 78 Furious commenc'd the Combat on the Plain.
1840 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. Apr.–May 295 Far and near it went forth through the land, like the sound of the trumpet-note of rally on the plain of battle.
1885 R. L. Stevenson & F. Stevenson Superfluous Mansion in More New Arabian Nights 134 My mood is on; I must have air, I must behold the plain of battle.
1915 H. O. Taylor Deliverance iv. 73 A vision which looks across the plain of battle to the final victory, at the world's end.
2001 Atlanta Jrnl. & Constit. (Nexis) 28 Oct. 1 b The ceaseless Islamist exhortations to Muslims to remember ‘the plain of battle is between Islam and Kufr’.
†4. A flat surface. Now superseded by senses of plane n.3
a. Geometry. = plane n.3 1. Obsolete.In quot. a1398 in plain: on a plane.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > surface > [noun] > plane
plaina1398
plane1604
plan1714
primitive plane1798
homaloid1850
biplane1870
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 329 The quadrangle is in pleyne [L. in plano] and liþ wiþinne foure streiȝt lynes.
a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 8 (MED) The noumbir of sex is applied to a sware ston whech hath sex pleynes and viii corneres.
1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. *j A broade magnitude, we call a Superficies or a Plaine.
a1620 M. Fotherby Atheomastix (1622) ii. ix. §4. 297 Whether solides or plaines.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica ii. ii. 61 The Inclination or Declination of the Loadstone; that is, the descent of the needle below the plaine of the Horizon. View more context for this quotation
1673 J. Ray Observ. Journey Low-countries 4 The Leaves..lie not in the same plain when shut, but make an obtuse Angle.
1697 S. Patrick Comm. Exod. (xx. 4) 362 The Images..they might draw on a plain.
1760 Philos. Trans. 1759 (Royal Soc.) 51 141 The angle of the sails is accounted from the plain of their motion; that is, when they stand at right angles to the axis, their angle is denoted 0°.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) 195 A convenient height above the plain of the ring.
b. = plane n.3 3a. Later: esp. a flat part of the surface of an object, as distinguished from other parts by being broader or lower. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > [noun] > flat or level surface or side
floor?a1400
plain?a1425
pane1434
smoothc1440
platform1551
superficies1571
flat1624
level1634
plane1663
sole1711
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 104 (MED) The arme is streched vpon a playne [L. per planum] and whilez it is drawen, þe eminence is pressed with þe hiele and þe arme is plied to þe shuldre.
?a1560 L. Digges Geom. Pract.: Pantometria (1571) i. xxxv. sig. L j v You shal vpon your Parchement paper or other playne..draw one streight line.
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. i. 5 Which she can at pleasure squeeze out, and so sodder and be-glew her self to the plain she walks on.
a1672 F. Willughby in J. Ray Observ. Journey Low-Countries (1673) 484 You ascend almost to the top without stairs, by gently inclining plains.
1703 Moxon's Mech. Exercises (new ed.) 186 To take off the extuberances from the plain of the Board.
1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 4 The intermediate part is called the plain... Coak and plain is when a coak is formed, and a plain surface follows between that and the next.
1863 P. S. Worsley Poems & Transl. 8 The silver plains Of two huge valves, embossed with graven gold.
c. A horizontally level area; the flat part of a place or area. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > [noun] > flat or level surface or side > and horizontal
plain1590
1590 R. Hakluyt tr. T. de Bry True Pictures People Virginia in T. Hariot Briefe Rep. Virginia (new ed.) sig. C2v The place where they meet is a broade playne, abowt the which are planted in the grownde certayne posts.
1594 Willobie his Auisa xxiii. f. 21v I am no common gameling mate, That list to bowle in euery plaine.
1614 J. Selden Titles of Honor 365 On the side of a stonie hill, is a circular plain, cut out of a main rock, with some xxiv. seats vnequall, which they call Arthur's Round Table.
1673 J. Ray Observ. Journey Low-countries 160 In the plain of the Council-chamber, are placed..three urns called Capelli.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 68/2 Walls, which..have somewhat of a plain at the foot of them, where they may..be kept from filling up the ditch with their ruines.
†5. = plan n. 2a. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > [noun] > plans of buildings or structures
ground-plot1563
model1570
ichnography1598
skiagraphy1636
plane1639
skiagraph1648
plain1659
plan1664
planography?1668
scheme1703
ground plan1731
working plan1767
working drawing1785
detail1819
floor-plan1867
Z-plan1887
block plan1909
master plan1914
1659 J. Leak tr. I. de Caus New Inventions Water-works 19 I have represented here the plain of the Orthographie.
†6. Printing. In letterpress printing: the flat bottom of the lining-stick. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > type founding > type-founding equipment > [noun] > gauge > parts of lining-gauge
plain1676
stilt1683
1676 J. Moxon Regulæ Trium Ordinum 52 The Letters..are..demonstratively laid down on the Plain.
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 154 The Plain is exactly Flat, Straight, and Smooth.
†7. The playing surface of a billiard table. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > billiards, pool, or snooker > [noun] > table > surface
plain1782
1782 Ann. Reg. 1780 Characters 16/2 The royal ball reached that of the enemy, and with a single blow drove it off the plain.
1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 159 Echo and a man of Trinity set forth for the plains of Betteris. Note, Plains of Betteris, the diversion of billiards.
8. French History. With the. Usually in form Plain. The moderate party who formed the numerical majority in the National Convention during the French Revolution. Also (in extended use): any moderate political party. Cf. mountain n. 5.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > French politics > [noun] > centre party
valley1792
plain1797
centre1819
1797 tr. F. X. Pagès Secret Hist. French Revol. II. 28 The party in opposition, who were called the Plain (la plaine), or Moderès, were divided into two, the Plain and the Marsh [Fr. de la plaine et..du marais].
1801 W. Dupré Lexicographia-neologica Gallica 219 Plaine, the plain; the name given in the national convention to the benches opposite to those of the mountain.
1827 W. Scott Life Napoleon II. iv. 106 In the Plain,..a position held by deputies affecting independence, both of the Girondists and the Jacobins,..sate a large number.
1966 New Statesman 22 Apr. 580/3 The Liberals in parliament in the Sixties were much as we might expect. Half were landowners, nearly a hundred were lawyers and many more were businessmen; there were only 20 ‘Radicals’ and 27 Whig backbenchers; the majority, ‘the Plain’, were ‘politically nondescript’.
1989 Encycl. Brit. IX. 493/3 Both sides thus courted the favour of The Plain, whose majority support was essential.

Compounds

C1. With first element in singular form (in modern use largely superseded by compounds employing the plural form: see Compounds 2).
a.
plain country n.
ΚΠ
c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica iv. 271 Then is there-by, an-othere champene and playne contrey [L. regio campestris] irriguously enmoistured.
1750 Bible (Challoner) Neh. xii. 28 And the sons of the singing men were gathered together out of the plain country about Jerusalem.
1991 West Austral. (Perth) 8 July 1/1 Supporting this was a vast area of well grassed plain country quite suitable for irrigation.
plain-land n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > level land > [noun] > level place or plain
fieldeOE
wong971
field landOE
woldc1220
flat1296
plainc1325
field placec1384
champaign?a1400
floor?a1400
smeethc1440
plain-land1487
weald1544
champian1589
camp1605
level1623
campaign1628
planure1632
campania1663
esplanade1681
flatland1735
vlakte1785
steppe1837
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xi. 337 He of the playne-land had alsua Of Armyt men ane mekill rout.
1694 Narbrough's Acct. Several Late Voy. 98 There are many Ostriches in the plain Lands and Guianacoes, which are the Beasts that bear the red Wooll.
1875 J. H. Temple & G. Sheldon Hist. Northfield, Mass. 64 Plain lands..were then reckoned nearly worthless.
1999 A. S. Goudie in W. M. Adams et al. Physic. Geogr. Afr. ix. 157 The origin of the plainlands themselves (be they pediplains, peneplains, or etchplains) is still the subject of controversy, as is the evolution of inselbergs.
plain station n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town, village, or collection of dwellings > [noun] > of Europeans in India
compound1679
station1778
plain station1851
1851 Times 28 Aug. 5/1 Sickness to an unusual extent prevails amongst the troops quartered at the plain stations of the Punjab and Bengal.
1884 Daily News 27 Feb. 5/7 Assouan..is healthier than Meerut, Mooltan, Mean Meer, or almost any plain station in India.
2002 Pakistan Newswire (Nexis) 1 June The highest maximum temperature of 45.0 degree centigrade was recorded at Sibi, Baluchistan and lowest minimum temperature of 16.0 degree centigrade at Zhob (hill station) and 25.0 degree centigrade at Larkana (plain station) were recorded on Friday.
b. Instrumental (in sense 4b).
† plain-sided adj. Obsolete = plane-sided adj. at plane n.3 Compounds.
ΚΠ
1677 R. Hooke Lampas 38 A plain sided Prisme, where the refracting sides are Perpendicular or equally inclined, but contrary ways to the Reflecting Superficies.
c.
† plain buffalo n. Obsolete = plains buffalo n. at Compounds 2c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > subfamily Bovinae (bovine) > [noun] > genus Bison > Bison bison (bison) > varieties of
prairie buffalo1806
wood buffalo1837
plain buffalo1859
mountain buffalo1868
wood bison1895
1859 H. Y. Hind North-West Territory xii. 105/1 The plain buffalo are not always of the dark and rich bright brown which forms their characteristic colour.
1894 Indiana Weekly Messenger 23 May 1/8 He describes the animal as larger than the plain buffalo and darker in colour.
† plain plover n. U.S. regional Obsolete the upland sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda.
ΚΠ
1840 W. P. Hawes in Spirit of Times 17 Oct. 391/3 When he got putty cloast he walked 'round catecornered-like—like's if he was drivin for a plain plover.
1890 Cent. Dict. at Plover In various parts of the United States, the Bartramian sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda, more fully called upland, highland, pasture, field, corn-field, prairie, grass, and plain plover.
plain turkey n. Australian (a) the Australian bustard, Ardeotis australis; (b) slang a bush tramp.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Gruiformes > [noun] > family Otididae > member of genus Ardeotis (Australian bustard)
kori bustard1811
gompaauw1838
native, plain, or wild turkey1847
plain turkey1866
plains turkey1914
1866 Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 36 45 More game is to be found here than we have seen for a long time; kangaroo, wallaby, scrub and plain turkeys, pheasants, black cockatoos, parrots, and many pigeons.
1872 C. H. Eden My Wife & I in Queensland iv. 122 The plain turkey or bustard (Otis Australasianus)..the male weighing from eighteen to twenty-five pounds.
1934 Bulletin (Sydney) 16 May 20/2 The plain turkey, or lesser bustard, one of Australia's finest gamebirds, is reported to be fading out in one of its few remaining strongholds—the great plains of Western Queensland.
1955 D. Niland Shiralee 27 An old bundle of a man came down the road from the west. Macauley watched him approaching and recognized him at once for what he was, a flat country bagman, a type on his own... In his time he had met plenty of these plain-turkeys, as they were known.
2004 Courier Mail (Queensland) (Nexis) 2 Apr. 3 His mouth was so wide that ‘if a plain turkey flew into it the bird would go straight down without touching the sides’.
plain-wanderer n. = plains-wanderer n. at Compounds 2c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Gruiformes > [noun] > miscellaneous members of
plain-wanderer1848
kagu1862
1848 J. Gould Birds Austral. V. 80 (heading) Collared Plain Wanderer.
1901 A. J. Campbell Nests & Eggs Austral. Birds II. 737 The collared Plain Wanderer, although a unique species, is closely allied to the Turnixes.
1965 Austral. Encycl. VII. 137/1 The plain-wanderer—sometimes called turkey-quail—is an inhabitant of open country in south-eastern and South Australia.
C2. With first element in plural form.
a.
plains country n.
ΚΠ
1872 Proc. Nat. Narrow-gauge Railway Convent. 22 Slightly undulating prairie or plains country.
1885 Cent. Mag. June 230/2 The three hundred weary miles of treeless and barren-looking plains country.
2004 Weekly Times (Austral.) (Nexis) 12 May m13 It is typical plains country with a few scattered box and boree trees, but mainly open grasslands.
plains craft n.
ΚΠ
1876 R. I. Dodge Black Hills 15 Banks are to be cut down, narrow, sharp ridges to be leveled off, bridges and corduroys to be constructed; every mile gained is a record of plains craft and intelligent labor.
1898 C. King Warrior Gap 38 That green youngster up there in front hasn't learned the first principles of plainscraft yet.
1997 Calgary (Alberta) Herald (Nexis) 30 Jan. dc9 The Stampede celebrates the ranchers and sod-busters alike, with livestock shows and auctions as well as rodeo events rooted in plains crafts of breaking horses, handling cattle and wagon transportation.
plains guide n.
ΚΠ
1877 R. I. Dodge Hunting Grounds Great West v. 63 ‘Old Bridger’, the most thorough and justly celebrated of all plains guides.
† plains malady n. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1877 R. I. Dodge Hunting Grounds Great West v. 67 Another plains malady..is called ‘moon-blind’.
plains people n.
ΚΠ
1899 H. Garland Trail of Goldseekers vii. 57 They had not the dignity and thinking power of the plains people, but they seemed amiable and rather jovial.
2000 A. Ghosh Glass Palace (2001) viii. 89 The inhabitants of the village kept to themselves and had little to do with plainspeople.
plains station n.
ΚΠ
1862 J. E. Johnston Let. 6 Mar. in War of Rebellion (U.S. War Dept.) (1881) 1st Ser. V. 1091 I will order three days' provisions for 3,200 men to be sent to the Plains Station for you.
1930 L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs 1st Ser. v. 109 Valetta was the last of the old plains stations to remain anything like its original size.
1959 A. B. Guthrie Montana iv. 31 They assembled reports laboriously compiled on crude charts by lonely weather observers in scattered plains stations.
b.
plains-bred adj.
ΚΠ
1901 R. Kipling Kim xiii, in McClure's Mag. Aug. 388/1 The lama..walked as only a hillman can. Kim, plains-bred and plains-fed, sweated and panted astonished.
1983 Assoc. Press (Nexis) 7 Feb. The plains-bred local aristocracy took up polo and mastered it to the extent that Argentine domination of the sport has not been seriously challenged for 40 years.
c.
plains bison n. = plains buffalo n.
ΚΠ
1901 Atlanta Constit. 5 May (Sunny South section) 10/4 She was charging blindly to the distant surf-whitened edge of the water like an old plains bison to the edge of a canyon.
1960 Wild Animals N. Amer. (Nat. Geogr. Soc.) 103/2 Plains bison were introduced years ago.
1994 New Scientist 5 Nov. 45/1 Many Americans have long taken bison conservation seriously. Now 11 000 or so plains bison, Bison bison bison, and another 2 900 or so ‘wood bison’, B.b. athabascae..live in about 50 public reserves in North America.
plains buffalo n. a North American buffalo of the subspecies Bison bison bison, which is smaller and of a lighter colour than the wood buffalo, and formerly inhabited much of the prairie region of central and western North America, where it is now confined to reserves.
ΚΠ
1889 Ann. Rep. Board of Regents Smithsonian Inst. 1886–7 2 408 The changes which would take place in a band of plains buffaloes transferred to a permanent mountain habitat can be forecast.
1963 Maclean's 23 Feb. 42/3 Must the barren lands be swept clear of people, leaving the few remaining caribou to become a curiosity like the plains buffalo?
1988 R. Turnbull Fisher's World: Canada 141 Established in 1906 as a wild animal preserve, the park played a major role in bringing the plains buffalo back from the brink of extinction.
Plains culture n. North American the culture of the Plains Indians.
ΚΠ
1906 Science 26 Jan. 148/1 Plains culture stopped at the woods and woods culture stopped at the grass line; California culture kept to the west of the mountains and the plains culture to the east of them.
1912 C. Wissler N. Amer. Indians of Plains ii. 86 While the camp circle was the most striking and picturesque trait of Plains culture, it was probably no more than a convenient form of organized camp for a political group composed of ‘bands’.
1991 National Geographic Traveler Sept. 124/3 Market days..celebrate northern Plains culture with music, food, entertainment, and sales of quillwork, beadwork, jewelry, and more.
Plains hunter n. North American a Plains Indian who hunts animals for food.
ΚΠ
1831 T. Simpson Let. 19 Dec. in M. A. MacLeod & W. L. Morton Cuthbert Grant of Grantown (1963) viii. 108 The plains hunters have had a very successful season and the quantity of provisions they have brought home is immense.
1959 E. Tunis Indians 28/2 Many of the Plains hunters and all of the Digger Indians of the West were ghost-ridden and terrified of the dead.
1994 Ann. Rev. Anthropol. 23 317 Through petrographic analysis she documented a shift from trade for pottery to production of pottery by southern Plains hunters.
Plains tribe n. North American any of various North American Indian peoples of the Plains; cf. Plains Indian n.
ΚΠ
1870 De B. R. Keim Sheridan's Troopers iv. 29 The Plains Tribes have, as yet, presented no prominent warriors in the character of leaders.
1877 R. I. Dodge Hunting Grounds Great West xli. 419 The Tonkaways cannot properly be called a plains tribe.
1949 National Geographic Mag. Oct. 473/1 What the buffalo was to the Plains tribes the caribou is to the Indians of the far north.
1991 National Geographic Traveler Sept. 124/3 The six Plains tribes of Canada display their works in a juried art show at the Old Courthouse museum.
plains turkey n. Australian = plain turkey n. (a) at Compounds 1c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Gruiformes > [noun] > family Otididae > member of genus Ardeotis (Australian bustard)
kori bustard1811
gompaauw1838
native, plain, or wild turkey1847
plain turkey1866
plains turkey1914
1914 H. M. Vaughan Australasian Wander-year 241 Now and again a ‘Plains turkey’, or great grey bustard..would be seen.
1986 Sydney Morning Herald 15 Jan. 13/4 The stately bustard, or plains turkey, reappeared last year in far western N.S.W. after an absence of decades.
plains-wanderer n. a ground-dwelling bird of south-eastern Australia, Pedionomus torquatus (sole member of the family Pedionomidae), having mottled brown plumage and, in the female, a black and white spotted collar.
ΚΠ
1926 Emu 26 59 (heading) The vanishing Plains-wanderer.
1964 A. L. Thomson New Dict. Birds 635/1 Plains-wanderers..are usually loth to fly.
1992 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 13 Feb. 19/1 Zoologist Dr David Baker-Gabb said yesterday that it was not known whether the plains wanderer migrated to similar areas during drought or changed its range.

Derivatives

ˈplain-like adj.
ΚΠ
1834 Nat. Philos. (Libr. Useful Knowl.) III. Math. Geogr. i. 1/2 Deceived by the plain-like appearance of the earth..they conceived it to be an extensive plain meeting the heavens on every side.
1882 Proc. Royal Geogr. Soc. 4 72 The country on leaving the latter river begins gradually to lose its plain-like character, becoming more undulating and rugged.
1930 Geogr. Jrnl. 75 232 The glaciers probably covered the plain-like valleys as well as the big plateaux in the shape of broad sheets of ice.
1982 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79 4481/1 Walther Penck..and others..have maintained that plain-like erosion surfaces are formed not by downwearing but by backwearing through the retreat of steeper slopes .
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

plainn.2

Brit. /pleɪn/, U.S. /pleɪn/
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: plain adj.2
Etymology: < plain adj.2With at plain (see sense 1b) compare Middle French a plain openly, directly (1285 in Old French).
1.
a. Something plain; the straightforward facts; a simple or unadorned thing; (also, with the and plural agreement) such things as a class; unattractive people as a class.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed encounter > battlefield > [noun] > level country as scene of battle
plainc1385
field1567
champian1579
champaign1600
champian?1611
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > [noun] > truth known by observation, fact > plain fact
plainc1385
fact1542
matter of fact1583
fact of lifea1806
brute fact1874
c1385 G. Chaucer Knight's Tale 1091 We mote endure it—this is the short and playn.
?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 207 (MED) Of ȝour concyens telle us þe playn with þis woman what xal be wrought.
?a1600 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. v. 301 The defendaunt shal not be takin ne convicted in his answere gyving, however he aunswere, but bothe parties to tell the playne of the matire.
1690 J. Locke Two Treat. Govt. i. ix. §86 Not to follow our A[uthor] too far out of the Way, the plain of the Case is this.
1691 Satyr against French 16 There was a time, the jolly English Board Was with plain drest, but various plenty stor'd; But ah that Custom's vanish'd, and supply'd With Dishes which few Mankind knew beside.
1813 J. Austen Pride & Prejudice II. iii. 40 Handsome young men must have something to live on, as well as the plain . View more context for this quotation
1869 L. M. Alcott Little Women II. xxiii. 337 They were enjoying the happy hour that seldom comes but once in any life—the magical moment that bestows youth on the old, beauty on the plain [etc.].
1977 Summit Autumn (Austin Reed Mag.) 6/2 Any stick-dresser who can't make a Plain, but only dresses Fancies, isn't really considered a proper craftsman... Plains..must be made in one single piece with no decoration.
1994 Magnet May 42/3 Here he just seems like a child who can't choose between the plain or the peanuts.
†b. With prepositions, as in (also at, on, unto) (a, the) plain: plainly, in plain terms; openly, without concealment. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > plainness > [adverb] > straightforwardly or directly
platc1375
in short and plainc1386
plaina1387
platlyc1390
in (also at, on, unto) (a, the) plainc1395
roundc1405
homelya1413
directly1509
roundly1528
point-blank1598
in good set termsa1616
broadly1624
crudely1638
plain downa1640
plumply1726
plumpa1734
squably1737
straightforward1809
unvarnishedly1824
pine-blank1834
blankly1846
squarely1860
straight out1874
straightforwardly1906
c1395 G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale E. 577 Of Grisildis wordes and hir cheere, He tolde hym poynt for poynt in short and playn.
a1425 Shrewsbury Fragm. in N. Davis Non-Cycle Plays & Fragm. (1970) 6 (MED) I se hom sitt samyn in a playn.
1444 in J. Stevenson Lett. & Papers Illustr. Wars Eng. in France (1861) I. 463 (MED) By..whiche..it may appere unto you more at plain.
a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 7 (MED) Þer of I schalle speke more in playn.
1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. E vj When ye se vnto the playne her at the last..Say, la douce amy la est a.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid i. vi. 36 Trewlie, maidin, in plane, Nane of thi sisteris did I heir ne se.
1578 J. Rolland Seuin Seages 264 Thay being all togidder sa conuenit, To yame in plane ye king schew quhat he menit.
1602 W. Watson Decacordon Ten Quodlibeticall Questions 117 [He told] him in plaine, the case was altered.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 758 In plain then, what forbids he but to know, Forbids us good, forbids us to be wise? View more context for this quotation
2. Originally: a plainly-woven, rough, or hard-wearing cloth; a kind of flannel. Now usually: a plain-coloured cloth, an unpatterned fabric.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from wool > [noun] > with open or loose texture > flannel > types of > other
plaina1600
red flannel1770
peat flannel1898
1447 in 3rd Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1872) App. 316/1 in Parl. Papers (C. 673) XXXIII. 337 Item, x auter clothis of playne and napery.
1534 J. Perpownte Let. Jan.–Mar. in Lisle Papers (P.R.O.: SP 3/13/48) f. 54 The xs ye wryte of..was bestowyd apon ij kerseys and a pleyne.
1585 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Queen Elizabeth (1908) ii. 370 For ix yardes of welshe playne.
a1600 T. Smith Let. in J. Strype Stow's Survey of London (1720) II. v. xix. 297/2 Also of Pyndewhites and Playnes, made in the West Country.
1725 London Gaz. No. 6388/2 The following Goods, viz... Arrangoes..Perpetts, Welch Plains.
1788 T. Jefferson Public Papers 391 Slaves..are clothed in three of the simplest manufactures possible, to wit, Oznabrigs, Plains, and Duffel blankets.
1799 Hull Advertiser 12 Jan. 2/3 Woollen drapery..jeans, quiltings,..plains, mixtures.
1838–9 F. A. Kemble Jrnl. Resid. Georgian Plantation (1863) 61 The allowance of clothes made yearly to each slave..is a certain number of yards of flannel, and as much more of what they call plains—an extremely stout, thick, heavy woollen cloth, of a dark grey or blue colour, which resembles the species of carpet we call drugget.
1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words II. 629/2 Plain,..(7) a kind of flannel.
1977 Austral. Furnishing Buyers Guide Spring–Summer 6/3 (advt.) The total choice [of fabrics] runs into hundreds of plains, stripes, checks, geometrics, berbers and boucles.
1991 Choice Mar. 40 The florals are bright, allowing a lot of choice when co-ordinated with the plains.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

plainn.3

Brit. /pleɪn/, U.S. /pleɪn/, Scottish English /plen/
Forms: late Middle English pleyne, 1500s plaine, 1500s playn, 1500s playne; English regional (northern) 1800s– plain, 1900s– pleen; Scottish pre-1700 plane, 1800s plenzie (archaic), 1800s– plain, 1900s plainyie (archaic).
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: plain v.
Etymology: < plain v. Compare earlier plaint n.
Now Scottish and English regional (northern).
A cry, a complaint, a lament; complaining, lamentation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > [noun]
carea1000
sorrowingOE
meaninga1200
moan?c1225
mourning?c1225
plaint?c1225
ruthc1225
weimerc1230
mean?c1250
sorrow?c1250
dolec1290
plainingc1300
woec1300
dolourc1320
mourna1350
waymentingc1350
penancec1380
complaintc1384
lamentationc1384
complainingc1385
moaninga1400
waiminga1400
waymenta1400
waymentationc1400
dillc1420
merourec1429
plainc1475
regratec1480
complainc1485
regretc1500
lamenting1513
doleance1524
deploration1533
deplorement1593
condolement1602
regreeting1606
imploration1607
pother1638
dolinga1668
moanification1827
dolence1861
the mind > emotion > suffering > displeasure > discontent or dissatisfaction > state of complaining > [noun] > a complaint
plainta1275
groinc1374
complaintc1385
murmura1393
grutchc1460
plainc1475
yammer?a1513
puling?1529
objecting1552
obmurmuration1571
regratea1586
repine1593
grumblinga1616
grumble1623
dissatisfactionc1640
obmurmuring1642
rumbling1842
natter1866
grouch1895
beef1900
holler1901
squawk1909
moan1911
yip1911
grouse1918
gripe1934
crib1943
bitch1945
drip1945
kvetch1957
c1475 in R. H. Robbins Secular Lyrics 14th & 15th Cent. (1952) 151 With the trew turtil all chaunge for sveregug ‘Welchome my deth certeynement’ vne [read tvne] and pleyne.
1537 T. Wyatt Let. Ganville's Reply ii. 629 And ernestly set forthe to the shew of his masters plaines.
c1550 C. Bansley Treat. Pryde & Abuse of Women sig. A.ivv And for oure sad and honest playnes, A ioyefull place in heauen.
1563 B. Googe Eglogs Epytaphes & Sonettes sig. G.vv Why dydste thou than, kepe backe thy wofull playn?
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iv. ix. 140 The warrior-threat, the infant's plain, The mother's screams, were heard in vain.
1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 107 He spak, and instant a' the senzie Did ratifie it without plenzie.
1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby Plains, complaints in all senses.
a1903 in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 535/2 [Westmorland] T'pleen was 'at Ah was drunk.
1913 H. P. Cameron tr. Thomas à Kempis Of Imitation of Christ i. xvii It isna a sma' maitter tae won in monasteries or in a commonty, an' tae leeve thar athoot plainyie.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

† plainadj.1

Forms: Middle English plan, Middle English pleine, Middle English plenn, Middle English 1600s plein, Middle English 1600s plene, Middle English–1500s playn, Middle English–1500s playne, Middle English–1500s pleyn, Middle English–1500s pleyne, Middle English–1600s plaine, Middle English–1700s plain, 1500s plane; Scottish pre-1700 plain, pre-1700 plaine, pre-1700 playn, pre-1700 playne, pre-1700 plene, pre-1700 1700s plane.
Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French plein; Latin plēnus.
Etymology: < Anglo-Norman pleyn, pleen, Anglo-Norman and Middle French plein, plain, playn (French plein ) (of non-material things) full (c1050 in Old French), (of material things) full, complete in number (c1100 in Old French) and their etymon classical Latin plēnus full (see pleni- comb. form). Compare Old Occitan ple, plen (a1150; Occitan plen), Catalan ple (13th cent.), Spanish lleno (1207; second half of the 10th cent as pleno), Italian pieno (a1294).In in plain battle (see sense 3) after Old French a plene bataille (end of the 12th cent.); in plain age (see sense 1b) after Anglo-Norman plein age (1259 or earlier; compare post-classical Latin plena etas ); in in plain life (see sense 1c) after Anglo-Norman en pleine vie (1276 or earlier; compare post-classical Latin in plena vita ). Attested earlier as an element in a nickname: Ric. Pleandamurs (1284; compare sense 4), although clearly this reflects the Anglo-Norman rather than the Middle English word. Sometimes confused with plain adj.2 (see etymological note at that entry).
Obsolete.
1.
a. Of non-material things, as power, justice, etc.: full, complete, entire; perfect, absolute.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [adjective] > complete or full
fulleOE
fullyOE
plaina1325
plenala1450
replete?a1500
replenished1548
stuffeda1616
plenitudinary1647
a1325 Statutes of Realm (2011) vii. 40 Wuche atornes sullen habben plein pouer in þe plaites arerde in eire.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 3158 (MED) Pleyn power i þe graunt..to lede al my lordchip.
c1387–95 G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. 315 Iustice he was ful often in assise By patente and by pleyn commissioun.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 3844 (MED) Crist gave to Peter playn powere.
1425 Rolls of Parl. IV. 304/1 Yanne the said Merchant or Merchantz myghten have pleine restitution and deliverance of yaire obligations.
1461 J. Berney in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 241 For my playn acquetayll.
1545 in W. Fraser Douglas Bk. (1885) IV. 157 That ȝour mageste ville heif ane plane conqueisse off this realme.
1653 H. Cogan tr. F. M. Pinto Voy. & Adventures l. 197 The City had been assaulted five times in plain-day.
b. plain age: adulthood, legal majority.
ΚΠ
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. l. 10421 Now is Arthure of pleyn age.
1427 in H. Nicolas Proc. & Ordinances Privy Council (1834) III. 248 (MED) Þe King..now is come to his plaine eage.
1439 in Collectanea Topographica & Genealogica (1840) VI. 14 If the seid Robt Wyloughby or his heires, beyng at plain age, refuse to confirme the astate [etc.].
1528–30 tr. T. Littleton Tenures (new ed.) f. ix The age..of .xxi. yere, which is called playne or full age.
c. in plain life: demonstrably or admissibly alive; legally recognized as being alive.
ΚΠ
c1439 Chancery Proc. Ser. C1 File 9 No. 114 (MED) The said Wautier..enfeoffed opon trust oon John Spencer, Prest, yit beyng in playn lif.
1459 in P. E. Jones Cal. Plea & Mem. Rolls London Guildhall (1961) VI. 10 (MED) Þe same John hath an elder broþer yet beyng in pleyne life.
1495 Rolls of Parl. VI. 503/1 As if the said Fraunces or his heyres were in pleyne lyfe.
2. Full or complete in number, size, extent, etc.; esp. (of a council, assembly, etc.) fully attended, in full session.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [adjective] > in number or extent
fulleOE
plainc1330
halea1400
absolute1610
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > [adjective] > full
fullOE
plenarc1300
plainc1330
plenary1483
c1330 (?a1300) Richard Coer de Lyon (Auch.) 138 in Englische Studien (1885) 8 119 (MED) Þer wer lorn..þemperour of almayn & Janine of pleynspeyne [v.r. Janyn, the Eerl of Playnspayne; i.e. all of Spain].
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 337 (MED) In pleyn [L. pleno] consistorie þe pope cursede Waldrada.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 67 (MED) His flete alle pleyn In an arme of Ouse vnder Ricalle lay.
1459 Rolls of Parl. V. 356/2 By th'assent..of Prelats, Dukes, Erles, Barons, and othir in his plain Parlement.
1499 in J. Stuart & G. Burnett Exchequer Rolls Scotl. (1888) XI. 395 To the forrestaris in the plane court in the tolbouth of Edinburgh.
1514–15 Act 6 Hen. VIII c. 4 In the full and pleyne shire courte.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. xiv. 14 The whiche was redde openly in playn audience.
1589 in D. Masson Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1881) 1st Ser. IV. 384 [The King's Majesty] sittand in plane Parliament [had ratified the Act].
1671 R. McWard True Non-conformist 231 King Charles the first, did in plene Parliament, An. 1641..ratifie the Nationall Covenant.
1677 R. Cary Palæologia Chronica i. i. i. vii. 18 There remains for the number of plene Months 125.
3. in plain battle (also combat, joust, etc.): in open or pitched battle, in a fair or formal contest. Cf. in plain field at plain adj.2 2b.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed encounter > [adverb] > in open battle
in plain battle (also combat, joust, etc.)c1330
c1330 (?c1300) Bevis of Hampton (Auch.) 920 (MED) I schel winne hire in plein bataile.
c1385 G. Chaucer Knight's Tale 988 He faught and slough hym manly as a knyght In pleyn bataille.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. 3731 Morpidus til him gan haste..& sleu him & al in plein batail.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 600 Of those a twelve knyghtes he slewe in playne justys four.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xiv. 87 In playne ficht thai discomfit thar Thar fais, that ay fowr for ane war.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) xlii. 142 Fynde .ii. champyons..that for thy loue wyll fyght with me in playne batayle.
1568 in G. Donaldson Reg. Secreti Sigilli Regum Scotorum (1963) VI. 59 Cuming..with Archibald Erle of Ergile..and..utheris..conspiratouris in plane battell with displayit baner at the feild of Langsyid.
1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 4 Whom [sc. Saracens & Persians] he was not able to encounter in plaine battell.
a1718 W. Penn Tracts in Wks. (1726) I. 577 In a plain Combat giving him that Foyl.
4. Full of; replete or furnished with.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > abundance > [adjective] > abounding in or having abundance
fulleOE
ranka1250
broada1300
rifec1325
copiousa1387
wealthful ofa1400
plaina1450
heavy-ladenc1450
fluenta1592
onust1604
heavy1622
onusted1657
opulent1685
aflooda1729
rowtha1774
acrawl1830
lousy1843
awash1912
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail c. 656 (MED) Thou enemy, Of falsnesse ful pleyn!
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 435/2 He sheweth hym self playne of contricion.
c1650 (a1500) Eger & Grime (Percy) (1933) 366 Within a day she came again Of all my gear she made me plain.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

plainadj.2

Brit. /pleɪn/, U.S. /pleɪn/
Forms: Middle English payne (transmission error), Middle English playen, Middle English plein, Middle English pleine, Middle English pleye (in a late copy, transmission error), Middle English plyne (transmission error), Middle English–1500s pleyn, Middle English–1500s pleyne, Middle English–1600s plaine, Middle English–1600s plane, Middle English–1600s playn, Middle English–1600s playne, Middle English– plain, 1500s plaen, 1500s plen; English regional 1800s– plaain (Lincolnshire), 1800s– plaan (Yorkshire), 1800s– pleean (Yorkshire), 1900s– pleen (Somerset); Scottish pre-1700 plaine, pre-1700 plan, pre-1700 planne, pre-1700 playn, pre-1700 playnne, pre-1700 plean, pre-1700 pleane, pre-1700 pleine, pre-1700 plen, pre-1700 1700s– plain, pre-1700 1800s playne, pre-1700 1800s– plane.
Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymons: French playn, plein.
Etymology: < Anglo-Norman playn, pleyn, Anglo-Norman and Middle French plain, plein (French plain ) free from obstacles (beginning of the 12th cent. in Anglo-Norman in the phrase a plain smoothly, unhindered), flat (c1155 in Old French), frank, clear, unequivocal (second half of the 13th cent. in Old French; now obsolete), (of textiles) in a single colour (14th cent.) < classical Latin plānus level, flat, smooth, simple, straightforward, obvious, probably < a differently extended form (-n- extension) of the same Indo-European base as floor n.1 Compare Old Occitan pla , plan (c1070; Occitan plan ), Catalan pla (c1300), Spanish†flano (1081), plano (c1129), llano (1207), Italian piano (a1272). Compare plane adj.In French the two words plain open and plein full (see plain adj.1) have been confused since the Old French period. Likewise, in English this word is sometimes confused with plain adj.1 (compare sense 2b); some senses may perhaps belong at that entry (compare sense 8). With in plain field (see sense 2b) compare Anglo-Norman en plain camp (c1139), Old French (Picardy) à plain camp (1283), Middle French en plain champ (1355), all in sense ‘in open country’. In Older Scots frequently in form plane ; in English this form is rare (in Middle English chiefly northern), and forms with a digraph (playn , plain , etc.), predominate in all senses, including the geometrical (see sense 1c), which latter only becomes distinguished in form plane during the 18th cent. (see plane adj.).
I. Level, flat, smooth.
1.
a. Of a horizontal surface, as the ground, the sea, etc.: level, even, flat, free from elevations and depressions. Now regional (rare).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > [adjective]
eveneOE
plainc1330
platc1395
planirc1450
level1538
flat1551
evenlya1586
plane1666
unraised1694
planary1724
dead1782
flush1791
square1814
billiard-table1887
the world > the earth > land > landscape > level land > [adjective]
eveneOE
plainc1330
flatc1440
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > state of sea > [adjective] > not rough
stillOE
plainc1330
smoothc1374
demure1377
calmc1440
softa1450
glassy1535
sleek1603
eddyless1621
oily smooth1803
waveless1804
foamless1821
undimpled1821
rippleless1832
c1330 Sir Orfeo (Auch.) (1966) 353 (MED) He com in-to a fair cuntray..Smoþe & plain & al grene; Hille no dale nas þer non y-sene.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 133 (MED) Nilus..ouerfloweþ þe pleyn contraies [L. plana] of Egipt.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. 1768 Vp to þe hilles fro þam þei wonde & left þe Troiens þe playn londe.
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 174 In Caldee is a pleyn contree.
1480 W. Caxton Descr. Brit. 47 The londe is not pleyne but full of montayns.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 79 (MED) Wyn whos grape growys in hellys..ys of moor drye kynde þan þat growys in playn and moyst valeyes.
c1555 T. Hoby Trav. in Camden Misc. (1902) X. 17 The countrey is verie plaine and plentifull round abowt yt.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. ii. 405 Follow me then to plainer ground. View more context for this quotation
1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated i. ii. 34 If otherwise the Earth were plaine, all the Northern starres would appeare to the inhabitants of the Southerne Regions.
1665 G. Havers tr. P. della Valle Trav. E. India 108 We lodg'd about a musket-shot without the Fort, in a plane and somewhat low place.
1684 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 14 667 What difference there will be in the Affriction of the whole side of the said Log upon the plain Table, and mounting the same upon 2 small Keels a quarter of an Inch thick.
1735 W. Somervile Chace iii. 431 All now is plain, Plain as the strand sea-lav'd.
1766 J. Wesley Wks. (1872) III. 240 I recovered some strength, so as to be able to walk a little on plain ground.
1801 J. Austen Let. 21 May (1995) 87 On plain ground I was quite her equal.
1847 G. Grote Hist. Greece IV. ii. xxv. 16 Between the last-mentioned gulf [sc. the Thermaic] and the eastern counterforts of Olympus and Bermius there exists a narrow strip of plain land.
1877 A. G. Murdoch Laird's Lykewake 28 Fair play, an' plain roads to the 'fore.
1901 Shetland News 2 Mar. Ane o' der ain calf kye lyin' stark dead apo' da plain green.
1991 S. Muthiah Words in Indian Eng. 123 Plain, flat or level.
†b. Of a surface of any kind (frequently of a part of the body): not curved, angled, etc.; flat, flattened. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > curved surface > [adjective] > convex > having little convexity
plaina1393
flat1728
flattened1833
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vi. 769 (MED) He seth hire front is large and plein Without fronce of eny grein.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 62v The sole of þe foot..hatte planta in latyn, for it is pleyn.
c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) 6404 (MED) Þe face hij han playne and hard, Als it were an okes bord.
?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 572 (MED) Anoþer [instrument]..is pleyne and longe, in þe manere of a beeme with a pype.
a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 236 (MED) Plente of lockys Playne Wythout moche cryspynge.
1565–73 T. Cooper Thesaurus Compressa palma aut porrecta ferire,..to strike with the fist, or with the playne hande.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 151 His backe [is] plaine to his taile, his eies quicke, his eares long hanging, but sometime stand vp.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 214 The houses are built after the manner of Asia,..one roofe high, and plaine in the top.
1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis 147 They shut in their heads behinde and before in boards, so that the whole face may become plain and dilated.
1707 J. Lambert Let. 20 June in T. Brockbank Diary & Let. Bk. (1930) 345 The Flaggs all over ye Church must be a mended, and laid plain and even.
†c. Geometry. = plane adj. 1. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > surface > [adjective] > relating to plane surfaces > of nature of
plaina1398
plane1666
homaloidal1850
homaloid1876
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 328v Of gemetrie is foure manere dymmensioun, playne, and gretnesse of nombre, and gretnesse of resoun, and solid figures. Playne figures ben conteyned in lengþre and in brede.
?c1400 in J. O. Halliwell Rara Mathematica (1839) 58 (MED) This tretis es departed in thre, þat es to say, hegh mesure, playne mesure, and depe mesure.
1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. *j Euery playne magnitude, hath also length.
1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. i. f. 2v A plaine angle is an inclination or bowing of two lines the one to the other.
1614 R. Handson tr. B. Pitiscus Trigonom. i. 5 A triangle is either plaine or Sphericall.
1660 tr. I. Barrow Euclide's Elements i. 1 A plaine superficies is that which lyes equally betwixt it's lines.
1669 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 4 932 This problem, wherever the Eye be plac'd, may be resolved by Plain Geometry.
1715 G. Cheyne Philos. Princ. Relig. (ed. 2) i. ii. 95 Partly terminated with plain, and partly with curve surfaces.
1807 W. Herschel in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 97 183 The plain side of a plano-concave, or plano-convex lens.
†d. to make (a building, etc.) plain (with the earth) and variants: to make level with the ground, to raze to the earth. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (transitive)] > break down, demolish, or ruin
spillc950
fellOE
to cast downc1230
destroy1297
to turn up?c1335
to throw down1340
to ding downc1380
to break downa1382
subverta1382
underturn1382
to take downc1384
falla1400
to make (a building, etc.) plain (with the earth)a1400
voida1400
brittenc1400
to burst downc1440
to pull downc1450
pluck1481
tumble1487
wreck1510
defacea1513
confound1523
raze1523
arase1530
to beat downc1540
ruinate1548
demolish1560
plane1562
to shovel down1563
race?1567
ruin1585
rape1597
unwall1598
to bluster down16..
raise1603
level1614
debolish1615
unbuilda1616
to make smooth work of1616
slight1640
to knock down1776
squabash1822
collapse1883
to turn over1897
mash1924
rubble1945
to take apart1978
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 22532 (MED) Þe sixte day..Al þis world shal be made pleyn.
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 48 (MED) Þis citee tuke Iosue..& kest it doune, and made it euen playne with þe erthe.
a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 164 Prey hem þat þei restore þe pore men to her lond, breke down þe heggis, make pleyn þe dykes, and þen schal I haue rest.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 94 He threwe downe the Castell plaine with the ground.
1596 J. Harington New Disc. Aiax sig. F7v Downe downe with it at any hand, make all thing plaine, let nothing stand.
a1599 E. Spenser View State Ireland 12 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) It was his policie to leave no hold behinde him, but to make all plaine and waste.
1604 M. Drayton Owle sig. Dv Supplant the Alps and lay them smooth and plaine.
1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. 48 The greatest part of their City..beaten down plain with the ground.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iii. 331 A multitude with Spades and Axes arm'd To lay hills plain, fell woods, or valleys fill. View more context for this quotation
2.
a. Of an area of land, water, etc.: open, clear, unobstructed; (also) open to the elements or to general view; unsheltered, exposed. Now archaic and English regional (northern).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > [adjective] > open or not enclosed
openOE
plaina1375
uncloseda1425
patent?1440
fenceless1587
ungardened1623
unenclosed1653
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 2217 (MED) Þei trauailed al a niȝt..no couert miȝt þei kacche, þe cuntre was so playne.
c1400 (?c1380) Patience l. 439 For hit watz playn in þat place for plyande greuez.
?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 126 (MED) She straue & chidde in the plaine strete wit her neyghboures.
a1500 ( Vision E. Leversedge in Notes & Queries Somerset & Dorset (1905) 9 24 (MED) My good Awngell..brynging my sawle in to a grett playn valey, wher was nother mone ne sonne ne ster that gaffe any liȝte.
?c1500 J. Blount tr. N. Upton Essent. Portions De Studio Militari (1931) 14 And when the day apoynetyd to fyght ys come A great wyde & playne place schall be provydyd for them.
1546 Supplic. Poor Commons sig. b.v v A churche..pleasantlye beset with grenes & plaine fildes.
1579 G. Fenton tr. F. Guicciardini Hist. Guicciardin i. 20 Able to giue him battel in the plaine sea.
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. x. 549/2 He affirmes, that it was in the plaine field, ours that it was an Ambush.
1658 T. Bromhall Treat. Specters ii. 201 [An] open plain place, and letted with no brambles or shades.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. xiv. 286 Its walls are built upon the plain ground, without either outwork or ditch before them.
a1876 E. Leigh Gloss. Words Dial. Cheshire (1877) 156 This road is plain to the wind.
1883 T. Lees Easther's Gloss. Dial. Almondbury & Huddersfield 102 That house is in a plain situation.
1887 T. Darlington Folk-speech S. Cheshire Plain, adj., exposed, not sheltered from the wind. ‘It's a plain bonk.’
b. in plain field and variants: on the open battlefield; in open, pitched, or full battle. Cf. in plain battle at plain adj.1 3. Now archaic and rare.
ΚΠ
c1436 Duke Burgundy (Rome) 6 in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 86 (MED) O thou Phelippe..whan wiltow rise And in pleyn felde doo mustre with thy launce?
a1500 Eng. Conquest Ireland (Rawl.) (1896) 11 (MED) Thay wolde figh with ham in the Playn felde.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. ccxxi. 288 They..thought to wynne the victory with their handes in playne felde.
1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. ii. 237 It was fochtin in plane feild [L. æquo campo] with displayit baneris.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 7218 Yche furde folowand on other..past furth prudly into þe plaine feld.
1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 14 Unsubdued..and now given over by the Romans in a plain field.
1661 E. Hickeringill Jamaica 42 The Spaniards never durst cope with our men in the plain field.
1937 D. M. Jones In Parenthesis vi. 138 It was a cert they were for it to do battle with him to-morn in the plain field.
c. Of a sight or view: clear, unobstructed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > visibility > [adjective] > clearly visible
senec1175
well seenc1175
naked?c1225
well isenec1275
bremec1340
evidenta1382
apparent1393
palpable?1435
open1478
pointablea1555
faira1568
full-eyed1581
unmasked1590
eyeful?1611
plain1613
prospecta1640
unovercloudeda1658
intuitive1801
unmystified1822
shroudless1841
unforeshortened1846
trenchant1849
focusable1889
1613 J. Hayward Liues III. Normans 22 With a furious charge..either slew them or tooke them prisoners, in the plaine view of their King.
1715 S. Croxall Vision 8 By just Degrees they nigher drew, And walk'd distinguish'd in a plainer View.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 308 We had a full View of them as they came, and a plain Sight of the Men, even of their Faces.
1751 C. Lennox Harriot Stuart II. 163 It being now night, the flambeaux about the coach, which stood still at the door, gave me a plain view of the count.
1849 H. Melville Redburn xlxi. 257 He would..show me into a pew; not the most commodious of pews,..nor within very plain sight or hearing of the pulpit.
1895 Outing 27 219/2 I now had him [sc. the bull] in plain view, broadside on, and tumbled him in his tracks.
1921 C. E. Mulford Bar-20 Three iii. 39 For two hours they sat and played California jack in plain sight of the street.
1979 R. Jaffe Class Reunion (1980) ii. xi. 300 He'd..have to find a safer place to hide his car than there in plain sight.
2000 Chicago Tribune 1 Sept. v. 1/1 Obviously well-perused, it [sc. the magazine] sat in plain view on the couchside table.
†3.
a. Of a surface: smooth, even; free from roughness, wrinkles, etc. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > smoothness > [adjective]
smeethc725
unroughOE
plaina1398
balghc1440
smoothc1440
glat1481
fair1486
handsmooth1530
terse1602
smooth-faced1647
sleekyc1725
smack-smooth1755
knotless1792
gleg1808
textureless1846
glabrous1860
unsculptured1891
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 106 Þe body of heuen is rounde and playne wiþoute.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 1068 Þat ever is polyced as playn as þe perle selven.
?a1425 (?c1350) Northern Passion (Rawl.) 2379 (MED) Þai polyst it [sc. a wooden beam] and made it playne.
c1475 Advice to Lovers in J. O. Halliwell Select. Minor Poems J. Lydgate (1840) 41 Also pleyne was his bedde at the morwe As at even.
a1500 Agnus Castus (Laud) (1950) 188 (MED) Yf a man wol wel chese of þe fruyt [sc. nutmeg], he most tak þulk þat is playn and somdel heuy.
1559 P. Morwyng tr. C. Gesner Treasure of Euonymus 208 If the face be wet and rubbed with the same it shall be plaine and cleare, that it shall seme angellike.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. lxviii. 99 Turners..do vse them to polish, and make playne, and smoth their workes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iv. iv. 721 Clo. We are but plaine fellowes, Sir. Aut. A Lye; you are rough, and hayrie. View more context for this quotation
1678 T. Hobbes Decameron Physiologicum ix. 108 Much more then will it adhere..when..both it and the Iron have a plain Superficies.
1704 J. Pitts True Acct. Mohammetans ix. 133 Smooth'd over the Meal and made it plain.
b. figurative. Of the wind: calm, gentle. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [adjective] > gentle
plaina1425
small1542
soft-footed1603
supple1648
favonian1656
zephyrian1661
slack1670
zephyrousa1750
zephyry1791
zephyrean1793
a1425 (?c1375) N. Homily Legendary (Harl.) in C. Horstmann Altengl. Legenden (1881) 2nd Ser. 13 (MED) Hastily þe tempest seste, And so..With windes playn to land þai pas.
?1435 ( J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1934) ii. 631 (MED) The eyre attempred, the wyndis smoth and pleyn.
II. Not embellished, adorned, or elaborate; without additions.
4.
a. Unembellished, without addition or decoration; not ornate, simple; not coloured; (of hair) worn straight, not curled; (of a person's name) without title or other addition. in plain arms: unarmed (cf. sense 4b).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > simplicity > [adjective]
plainc1330
simplea1382
neat1453
natural1553
austere1581
bare1583
unintricated1649
severe1665
clever1674
light1740
ungaudy1795
unassuminga1807
inartificial1823
quiet1838
unpretentious1838
unabstract1840
uninvolved1853
penny-plain1854
simplex munditiis1874
unstagy1882
clinical1932
shibui1947
understated1957
the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > absence of colour > [adjective]
huelessc1000
whiteOE
plainc1330
uncoloured1538
undyed1538
colourless1610
blank1667
unteinted1745
achromatic1759
achromic1762
etiolated1784
tintless1789
unshaded1823
achromatous1845
untinted1849
unpigmented1853
achromatistous1878
achromous1878
achroous1878
decolorized1879
etiolized1880
untoned1897
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > [adjective] > ornamented or decorated > not
untiffed?c1225
plainc1330
ungarnishedc1400
undecked1570
dudgeon?1589
stark naked?1594
unbepranked1594
unembellished1630
unadorned1637
unbecomed1646
unfringed1646
unplumed1646
unembroidered1649
unornamented1688
undecorateda1763
naked1850
unveneered1886
no-frill1933
no-frills1948
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [adjective] > not styled
plainc1330
dishevelled1493
unshed1596
detressed1603
scattered1785
uproarious1836
vagrant1862
unsecured1882
the mind > language > naming > name or appellation > [adjective] > of a name: without addition
plain1828
1322 Will de Bohun in Archæol. Jrnl. (1845) 2 348 (MED) j plate dargent pur espices ove le pee ove escuchouns des divers armes, et ij autres plates playnes dargent.]
c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) l. 6477 Of þine hauberk vnarmi þe: In pleyn armes wil we fiȝt.
1366 in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1836) I. 81 (MED) Lego Willielmo..unam peciam argenti playne cum cooperculo.
1415 in F. A. Page-Turner Bedfordshire Wills (1914) 26 (MED) Item, a playn sanap of viij ȝerds long.
1459 Inventory Fastolf's Wardrobe in Paston Lett. (1904) III. 188 ij playn borde clothys for my maister is table.
a1500 ( Vision E. Leversedge in Notes & Queries Somerset & Dorset (1905) 9 29 (MED) Neuer were ne use suche stuffid dublettes fro this tyme forth, but orden the a playn dowblette.
1546 in M. Hulton & J. Shuttleworth Ten Tudor Families (1987) 14 Item vi. playne napkyns.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iii. xxii. 112 A faire cloth embrodered with leaues about it or els plaine.
1616 T. Tuke Treat. against Paintng 57 Indeed a plaine woman is but halfe a painted woman.
1655 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. I. iii. 31 A young man,..described by Plato, with long plain Hair.
1670 Lady M. Bertie in 12th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1890) App. v. 21 Most wore embraudered bodys with plaine black skirts of Morella Mohair and Prunella and such stuffs.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 117 Escutcheons of two Crosses, the one plain and the other Anchred.
1711 Boston News-let. 1 Oct. 2/2 (advt.) Taken out of the House of Mr. Edward Winslow Gold-Smith... Two Stone Rings, Several Plain Rings.
1785 J. Beekman Let. 14 Sept. in Beekman Mercantile Papers (1956) III. 1292 We now send you per Captain Hooghteling 1 piece fine Corduroy, 1 piece yard wide Cotton Check, 1 dozen Blue printed linen Handkerchiefs, 1 double Gross flowered Metal Buttons, 1 Double Gross plain Do.
1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life I. vi. 109 Both figures being partly coloured, and partly plain.
1828 Imperial Mag. 10 589 The doctor, or, as he now chose to designate himself, plain Thomas Beddoes.
1882 Ballou's Monthly Mag. July 91/1 For plain white use a pound white glue, twenty pounds English whiting.
1894 ‘A. Hope’ Prisoner of Zenda xv. 209 A man in plain black clothes, carrying his hat in his hand.
1930 A. P. Herbert Water Gipsies xxv. 369 The frock's plain, and a bit of ornament helps.
1958 J. E. Morton Molluscs ii. 47 Plain yellow shells are more abundant than brown shells in green habitats.
1976 Derbyshire Times 3 Sept. (Peak ed.) 10/6 (advt.) Paving slabs... Remanufactured top quality vibrated plain and coloured paving in a range of sizes.
1996 Independent 10 Jan. ii. 3/5 Until a few years ago he was in fact plain Mr Elliott. He only adopted a double-barrel after delving into his family history.
†b. Of a person: unarmed; unprotected by armour. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > arming or equipping with weapons > [adjective] > not
weaponlessa1000
unweaponedc1200
barec1275
unarmed1297
nakedc1300
plaina1400
disarmedc1425
unboden1456
unbarbed1565
unbarded1598
unmunitioned1626
armlessa1640
munitionless1871
barehanded1874
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 7564 (MED) Wit armes cums þou me again, And i agains þe al plain.
c. Of a fabric: that is not corded or twilled; without a pattern; in only one colour. Frequently in plain cloth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [adjective] > woven > other
plain1415
biased1805
Jacquard1841
looped1851
fairy1883
tangential1897
interlock1928
rip-stop1945
1415 in F. A. Page-Turner Bedfordshire Wills (1914) 26 (MED) Item, iij Brewers of playn cloith.
1442 Inventory in Proc. Soc. Antiquaries London (1870–3) 5 123 (MED) Item, j ffyne pleyn cloth.
1475 in C. L. Kingsford Stonor Lett. & Papers (1919) I. 155 (MED) It., iij Tabyll clothys of playn clothe.
1620 tr. G. Boccaccio Decameron I. iii. vii. f. 99 It was ordained by religious institutions, that their garments should be made of narrow, plaine, and coursest spun cloth.
1705 Boston News-let. 5 Mar. 2/1 Divers Prize Goods, viz. a parcel of Flanders Lace of divers sorts in 2 great sea Chests, 2 others of divers sorts of Silks, plain & flower'd.
1759 Newport (Rhode Island) Mercury 10 Apr. 4/2 Imported in the last Ships from London (via Boston) And to be sold by Simon Pease, jun. Superfine Broad Cloths,..Corded and plain Dimity, Huckabuck, Women's best Worsted and Silk Hose.
1835 D. Booth Analyt. Dict. Eng. Lang. 182 A kind of plain cloth, of which the warp is cotton and the weft woollen, is called Domett, or Cotton-flannel.
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Plain cloth, not twilled.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 722/1 Where the..alpaca weft plain-cloth came from is not known.
1968 Jrnl. Econ. Hist. 28 6 Changes in the relative qualities of plain and colored cloth exported.
2001 K. Guerrier Encycl. Quilting & Patchwork Techniques 158/1 Large and small-scale prints are combined with plain fabrics in a range of vibrant colours.
†d. Of a custom or practice: not unusual or elaborate; standard, common, ordinary. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > [adjective] > of no special quality > commonplace
commona1382
ordinarc1400
plainc1430
famosec1449
famous1528
vulgar1580
ordinary1590
undistinguished1600
indistinguished1608
commonplace1616
unremarkable1628
irremarkable1635
bread and cheese1643
incurious1747
ordinary-looking1798
routine1826
indistinctive1846
common-seeming1857
bread-and-butterish1893
bread-and-buttery1893
timeworn1901
day-to-day1919
vanilla1972
standard1977
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women 2617 Ful is the place of..songes amorous of maryage, As thylke tyme was the pleyne usage.
e. Cards. Of a card: not special in any way, not a court card or a trump card; (of a suit) not trumps.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > card or cards > [adjective] > number card
plain1787
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > card or cards > [adjective] > not trump
plain1787
1787 W. Young New Latin-Eng. Dict. at Card A plain card (that is not a court card), Charta simplex vel pura.
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xvii. 219 Court cards and plain cards, of every denomination.
1862 ‘Cavendish’ Princ. Whist 8 Ace, king, queen, knave, in plain suits.
1873 Routledge's Young Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 94/1 ‘Court card’ or ‘plain card’, as the case may be.
1885 R. A. Proctor How to play Whist vii. 88 With good plain cards and five trumps you need never hesitate to lead trumps.
1885 R. A. Proctor How to play Whist vii. 86 You may finesse more deeply in trumps than in plain suits.
1936 E. Culbertson Contract Bridge Compl. xlii. 479 Cash all idle top cards in trump or plain suits.
1990 D. Parlett Oxf. Guide Card Games xxi. 288 Jack of trumps..may be married to a plain Queen for 20..provided that she has already been married to the King.
f. Of an envelope, wrapper, container, etc.: unlabelled, giving no information as to sender or contents; frequently in under plain cover. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > privacy > [adjective] > unmarked
plain1868
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > privacy > [adverb] > in unmarked wrapper
under plain cover1936
1868 J. D. McCabe Secrets of Great City lxxii. 527 One million certificates..are each inclosed in plain envelopes, and sealed, undistinguishable one from another.
1913 Maclean's Sept. 81/3 Write us for Catalogue ‘D’, sent free on application, in plain envelope.
1936 Men Only Mar. 147/1 Send a p.c. for full details of the Girvan Scientific System (mailed under plain cover) and particulars of our £100 Guarantee.
1974 John o'Groat Jrnl. (Wick) 6 Sept. 9/5 (advt.) Plain wrapper, Durex Gossamer, 55p dozen; Fetherlite, three packets 55p, post free; plain wrapper; guaranteed Grade 1 goods.
1988 Toronto Star 24 July a4 They've put on political trenchcoats and dark glasses and slipped their platform into a plain brown wrapper.
1998 Viz Aug. 11/2 (advt.) All orders despatched under plain cover.
g. Of a motor vehicle: unmarked; anonymous.
ΚΠ
1942 N. Balchin Darkness falls from Air iii. 57 ‘He's tight,’ said Fred... I said, ‘I expect they'll send a plain van to collect the old boy.’
1966 P. G. Wodehouse Plum Pie iv. 107 The two of them got away with the purloined objects, no doubt in a plain van.
1971 W. J. Burley Guilt Edged i. 9 The goods [were] to be delivered in a plain van.
1975 L. Dills CB Slanguage Dict. 47 Plain brown (black, gray) wrapper, unmarked police car.
1990 W. Stewart Right Church Wrong Pew (1991) xxii. 172 He gestured towards what we used to call ‘a plain brown wrapper’ when I was on the police beat.
5. Music. Of music: consisting of a single, unharmonized, unornamented line of melody; (of a note or melody) unornamented, monophonic. Chiefly in plainsong n., plainchant n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > interval > [adjective] > major
plain1445
perfecta1450
greater1597
major1653
sharp1694
1445 Peebles Burgh Rec. I. 11 Thar sal na man be feit thairtil bot he that can sufficiandly syng playn sang to help Goddis service.
c1450 (c1400) Cuckoo & Nightingale (Fairf.) (1975) 118 (MED) Hit thynkes me I syng as wel as thow, For my songe is both trewe and pleyn.
1609 J. Dowland tr. A. Ornithoparchus Micrologus 3 Plaine Musicke..is a simple and vniforme prolation of Notes, which can neither be augmented nor diminished.
1706 A. Bedford Temple of Music iii. 66 The Plain Chanting of our Cathedral Service.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Chant The Plain, or Gregorian Chant, is where the Choir and the People sing in Unison, or all together in the same manner.
1872 O. Shipley Gloss. Eccl. Terms 6 The accent being..plain, i.e. monotone.
1879 G. Grove Dict. Music I. 746 Homophone..voices or instruments sounding alike—unison..sometimes applied to music written in what was formerly called the Monodic style..now ordinarily employed for music in plain harmony..as opposed to the Polyphonic treatment.
1967 A. L. Lloyd Folk Song in Eng. iv. 312 The group refrains..were always sung plain and in a strict tempo giusto.
6. Of a food, drink, etc.: not rich or highly seasoned; having few or basic ingredients; not elaborate, simple to prepare. plain bread and butter: bread and butter without the addition of preserves, etc. a plain tea: a simple, unelaborate tea. plain water: mere water, without any addition.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > qualities of food > [adjective] > rich or luxurious > not
plain1631
the world > food and drink > drink > water > [noun] > with nothing added
plain water1897
1631 J. Mabbe in tr. F. de Rojas Spanish Bawd Ep. Ded. It is good plaine houshold-bread, honest messeline.
1655 N. Culpeper et al. tr. L. Rivière Pract. Physick vi. i. 131 A plainer Medicine is made of Plantane and Rose Water.
1668 King Charles II in J. M. Cartwright Madame (1894) 263 The planer your diett is the better health you will have.
1712 Boston News-let. 17 Mar. 2/2 (advt.) To be Sold by Mr. Zabdiel Boylston... Viz. All sorts of Fruit... All sorts of Snuff either Brazil, Barcelona, or Spanish, Perfum'd or Plain.
1774 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 64 49 Four penny-weights of each of the astringents..were tritured in plain water.
1799 M. Underwood Treat. Dis. Children (ed. 4) I. 163 To chew a crust of bread [or] eat a bit of plain pudding.
1853 E. C. Gaskell Ruth II. iv. 75 Her father would inquire into the particulars of the meal, elevating his eyebrows at every viand named beyond plain bread-and-butter.
1879 Spectator 24 May 645 [As a] school-boy counts the currants in an unusually plain cake.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. III. 21 Plain water, barley water, lemonade,..may be allowed at will to assuage the thirst.
1909 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Avonlea viii. 82 She would not give him any dinner but allowed him a plain tea of bread and milk.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses iii. xviii. [Penelope] 696 We both ordered 2 teas and plain bread and butter.
1985 S. Hastings Nancy Mitford ii. 30 The food was of the nursery variety, plain and wholesome.
III. Evident, obvious, straightforward.
7. Clear to the senses or the mind; evident, manifest, obvious; easily perceivable or recognizable.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > manifestation > manifestness > [adjective]
sutelc897
openeOE
ebera975
graithc1325
broadc1374
plainc1375
clearc1380
grossc1380
manifest1385
notoire1409
patent1508
sensible?1531
discovered1537
plain as a pikestaff (also packstaff, pad-staff)1542
palpable1545
demonstrative1552
plain as the nose on (in) one's face1560
illustrate1562
appearing1566
notorious1581
obvious1583
unshadowed1593
transparent1597
liquid1610
visible1614
pellucid1644
illustrious1654
apertive1661
conspectable1727
suggestive1806
c1375 G. Chaucer Monk's Tale 3471 It was hir pleyn entente To haue a child the world to multiplye.
a1425 (c1333–52) L. Minot Poems (1914) 7 (MED) King Edward toke his rest At Andwerp..And þare he made his mone playne.
c1500 (?a1437) Kingis Quair (1939) cxvi To a token pleyne, As of my teris cummyth all this reyne.
?1521 A. Barclay Bk. Codrus & Mynalcas sig. Ciij Thinkyng that none, can their playne errour note.
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme lix. 64 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 64 Make it playne, That God..Rules all.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. i. sig. A6v The moniments whereof there byding beene, As plaine as at the first, when they were fresh and greene. View more context for this quotation
1619 A. Gorges tr. F. Bacon Wisedome Ancients xvii. 81 It is but a meere toy, and a plaine euidence, that he was ignorant of that point.
1660 tr. I. Barrow Euclide's Elements i. 12 It is plain that AD is not equall to AC.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. ii. iii. 179 Practical Christianity,..is a plain and obvious thing.
1775 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 65 316 It is plain also, that the blood passed..through the hypogastrics and umbilicals to the placenta.
1813 W. Scott Rokeby i. 8 Now nigh and plain the sound appears.
1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 88 Let me make my meaning plainer in this way.
1874 R. Brown Man. Bot. i. ii. 40 Flax..appears under the microscope with a plain outline.
1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xxiii. 263 ‘There's one thing plain to be seen, Anne,’ said Marilla, ‘and that is that your fall off the Barry roof hasn't injured your tongue at all.’
1988 M. Dibdin Ratking vi. 141 Absolutely and totally clear, plain and evident for everyone to see.
1999 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 22 Apr. 30/3 The implication could not be plainer.
8. Unmistakable; sheer, pure, absolute, utter, downright. Chiefly attributive as an intensifier.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > utter or absolute
shirea1225
purec1300
properc1380
plainc1395
cleana1400
fine?a1400
entirec1400
veryc1400
starka1425
utterc1430
utterlyc1440
merec1443
absolute1531
outright1532
cleara1535
bloodyc1540
unproachable1544
flat1553
downright1577
sheer1583
right-down?1586
single1590
peremptory1601
perfecta1616
downa1625
implicit1625
every way1628
blank1637
out-and-outa1642
errant1644
inaccessional1651
thorough-paced1651
even down1654
dead1660
double-dyed1667
through stitch1681
through-stitched1682
total1702
thoroughgoing1719
thorough-sped1730
regular1740
plumb1748
hollow1751
unextenuated1765
unmitigated1783
stick, stock, stone dead1796
positive1802
rank1809
heart-whole1823
skire1825
solid1830
fair1835
teetotal1840
bodacious1845
raw1856
literal1857
resounding1873
roaring1884
all out1893
fucking1893
pink1896
twenty-four carat1900
grand slam1915
stone1928
diabolical1933
fricking1937
righteous1940
fecking1952
raving1954
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > assured fact, certainty > evident certainty > [adjective]
witterc1175
apert1340
clearc1380
plainc1395
apparentc1400
demonstrablea1425
demonstrate1509
sensible?1531
explicit1623
apodicticala1638
demonstrated1646
apodictic1652
flat1665
decided1757
distinct1828
c1395 G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale 926 No wonder is for in hir grete estat Hir goost was euere in pleyn humylitee.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 929 (MED) Þou nees bot a pudre plain, to puder sal þou worth a gain.
c1450 C. d'Orleans Poems (1941) 38 (MED) His secretary callid promys playne The self tyme wrote the letter of trete.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Eccl. i. 1 All is but vanite..all is but playne vanite.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 3504 Hope ye, Parys, playn þefte vnponysshet wilbe?
1581 B. Rich Farewell Militarie Profession viii. sig. Cc.ijv By plaine force [he] pulles hym doune on the flower.
1592 R. Dallington tr. F. Colonna Hypnerotomachia f. 67v Wee ascended vp to the playne toppe.
1643 in D. Townshend Life & Lett. E. Porter xiii. 206 One throu plain fier went strait mad.
1669 W. Penn No Cross, No Crown vii. §1 Whilst a plain Stranger to the Cross of Christ.
1722 R. Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 659 Such plain raillery, that unless I should learn banter and Billingsgate, which I still thought below a historian, there is no answering it.
1828 C. Lamb Char. Late Elia in Elia 2nd Ser. 226 He..reaped plain, unequivocal hatred.
1869 A. Trollope Phineas Finn I. xxii. 181 ‘You want to be flattered without plain flattery.’ ‘Of course I do... A man who can't show me that he thinks me so [sc. pretty] without saying a word about it, is a lout.’
1906 U. Sinclair Jungle xvi. 187 Then he had another ride in the patrol wagon, along with the drunken wife-beater and the maniac, several ‘plain drunks’ and ‘saloon fighters’.
2004 Canberra Times (Nexis) 13 Mar. a 6 There are times when the maestro displays the kind of plain rudeness that can be strangely endearing in the elderly.
9.
a. Of which the meaning is evident; simple, easily intelligible, readily understood. Now somewhat rare except in plain English n., plain language n. (a) at Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > clearness, lucidity > [adjective]
sutelc897
openeOE
plaina1398
sada1400
familiar1509
facile1531
lightsome1532
well-determined1560
pervial1595
uncurious1601
articulate1603
distinct1609
unmisinterpretablea1631
dilucida1640
limpid1649
dilucidate1651
unmysterious1663
incurious1664
elucidatea1670
accessible1681
distinguished1700
dilucidated1759
unmistakable1822
black and white1838
clear-cut1843
square on1963
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > clarity > [adjective]
plaina1398
cleara1400
luminousc1450
lightsome1532
perspiculous1565
perspicuous1570
luculent1597
dilucida1640
limpid1649
dilucidate1651
elucidatea1670
dilucidated1759
lucid1786
pellucid1831
chiselleda1862
transpicuous1877
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 78v Sweuenes þat beþ trewe buþ somtyme opun & playne & somtyme I-wrappid in..derke tokenynges.
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 362 Þis gospel telliþ a playen [v.r. pleyn] storie.
a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) 96 (MED) My pitee doeth me constrayne To shew the trouth in a few wordis & playne.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. xciiijv It ought to be vttered with playner wordes, to take awaye all ambiguitie.
1640 Whole Bk. Psalmes: ‘Bay Psalm Bk.’ **2 (2) Wee have therefore done our indeavour to make a plaine and familiar translation of the psalmes and words of David into english metre, etc.
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ ii. vii. §3 Can any thing be more plain then the graduall progress of Divine revelation from the beginning of the world?
1725 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman I. ii. 25 A tradesman's letters should be plain, concise, and to the purpose.
1726 Bp. J. Butler 15 Serm. v. 96 Morality and Religion must be somewhat plain and easy to be understood.
1861 Amer. Agriculturist Jan. 5/2 Let all letters referring to seeds, be as brief as possible, and yet plain.
1861 J. W. Carlyle Lett. III. 80 Tell her distinctly what you want..in few plain words.
1960 P. Anderson High Crusade iv. 40 Tell me in plain words, do you or do you not have a soul?
b. Of a speaker, writer, etc.: unambiguous, clear.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > clarity > [adjective] > of persons
plain1555
perspicuous1593
clear1711
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde ii. i. f. 53v I had rather bee playne then curious.
a1639 T. Dekker et al. Witch of Edmonton (1685) ii. i. 19 I understand thee not. Be plain, my Son.
1649 J. Milton Observations in Articles of Peace with Irish Rebels 45 Actions, of whatever sort, [are] their own plainest Interpreters.
1747 Duke of Newcastle Let. 16 July in Corr. Dukes of Richmond & Newcastle (1984) 249 Men of Art will have the advantage of..plain Speakers.
1823 W. Scott Peveril I. iii. 48 I pr'ythee be plain, man..or fetch some one who can speak to purpose.
1867 W. G. T. Shedd Homiletics (1869) iii. 55 A plain writer or speaker makes the truth and the mind impinge upon each other.
1886 Dict. National Biogr. at Butler, W. A. With rustic hearers he could be plain and simple.
1969 J. Gross Rise & Fall Man of Lett. i. 15 At his best he is plain, transparent, aphoristic.
10.
a. Straightforward, simple, basic; not intricate or complicated. Cf. plain sewing n. at Compounds 3, plain work n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > [adjective] > not complex
simple1555
plain1589
incomplexed1628
incomplex1658
incomplicate1686
uncomplicated1792
straightforward1833
straight-up-and-down1859
simplicist1904
simplicistic1920
low-level1923
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > [adjective] > sewing > plain sewing
plain1769
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. xiii Poets..made certain poems in plaine meetres, more like to sermons or preachings then otherwise.
1659 C. Hoole tr. J. A. Comenius Visible World (1672) 3 Plain sounds [L. simplices sonos] of which mans speech consisteth.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. vii. iii. 6 Of all Dials, this is the plainest; for it is no more but divide a whole Circle into 24 equal parts.
1769 New York Newspaper Ads. §842 Clementina & Jane Ferguson move their school..teach..reading, writing, plain needle work [etc.].
1834 J. Bowring Minor Morals 145 The Jacquard loom..by which the most complicated patterns can be woven with the same ease as the plainest.
1889 M. E. Kennard Landing Prize II. xii. 209 We supported ourselves..by taking in plain needle-work.
1951 F. Whiteley Gear Manuf.: Bk. 2 (Assoc. Engin. & Shipbuilding Draughtsmen) iii. 23 The gear to be cut is of the ordinary plain type of spur gear.
1987 Railway Mag. Nov. 689/4 Wolverton and Doncaster still have some ongoing residual work outside plain maintenance, which will last for a further two years.
1999 Gymnast Jan. 25/1 ‘Level 2 Compulsory’—the arabesque is now a plain rear arabesque on one leg.
b. Knitting. Designating a stitch made by putting the needle through the front of the stitch from left to right; (also) consisting of or involving this stitch. Cf. garter-stitch n. at garter n. Compounds, purl stitch at purl n.1 5.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [adjective] > knitted > knitted in specific way
plain1655
stockinet1824
handknit1840
stocking cloth1880
lock knit1926
jersey1938
fisherman's knit1960
Aran1962
flat-knit1963
string1964
1655 Natura Exenterata 417 Make at the first stitch one purl, and knit a plain stitch again.
1844 C. Mee Compl. Work-table 25 Knit 15 stitches plain.
1861 I. M. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. xxvii. 622 The cloths..should be knitted in plain knitting, with very coarse cotton.
1872 Young Englishwoman Oct. 559/1 Knit 9 rows, 2 plain, 2 purl, alternately.
1885 H. K. Brietzcke & E. F. Rooper Plain Needlewk. ii. 99 Ribbed knitting is when plain and purl knitting is worked alternately.
1919 Trenton (New Jersey) Evening Times 18 Aug. 7/1 Narrow each side of purled stitch, for three times, with ten rows of plain knitting between.
1958 Times 6 Dec. 14/1 Short-sleeved Shetland jumpers, fawn only..lacey or plain stitch.
1999 C. Mendelson Home Comforts xiv. 201/2 Links-links, or purl knit, looks like the fabric a home knitter creates doing garter stitch..or plain knitting.
†c. Of the needles of a knitting machine: designed to knit plain stitches. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 654 In the weaving of ribbed hosiery, the plain and rib courses are wrought alternately..the rib needles intersecting the plain ones [etc.].
1863 Sci. Amer. 14 Nov. 317/3 Second, I claim the series of ribbing needles in combination with the plain needles of a circular knitting machine.
1881 Encycl. Brit. XII. 299/2 The addition consisted of a set of ribbing-needles placed at right angles to Lee's plain needles.
IV. Direct, unambiguous, open.
11. Of a person: open in behaviour; free from duplicity or reserve; candid, frank (with another person); outspoken, blunt. Now somewhat archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > unaffectedness or naturalness > [adjective] > straightforward or frank
right fortha1382
plaina1393
free-hearteda1398
round1487
opena1535
sincere1539
frank1555
pert1567
single-hearted1574
single-minded1577
direct1586
open-hearted1593
open-breasted1594
transparent1600
unclose1606
unminced1648
even down1654
unreserved1654
rugged1678
plain sailing1707
whole-footed1744
sturdy1775
heart-in-mouth1827
jannock1828
straightforward1829
direct-dealing1830
undiplomatic1834
straight-ahead1836
straight-up-and-down1859
man to man1902
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 736 (MED) I have..Be plein withoute Ypocrisie.
1418 H. Chichele in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. I. 5 Ȝe schol fynde hym a good man..and pleyn to ȝu with owte feyntese.
1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) lxii. 88 Thenne sayd to her the good man whiche Was a playne man and trewe.
a1500 in R. H. Robbins Secular Lyrics 14th & 15th Cent. (1952) 158 (MED) I..Wyll neuer change but kepe..Wyth alle my myght to be bothe true & playn.
1567 T. Harman Caueat for Commen Cursetors (new ed.) sig. Eiii Well I wyll tell the quoth this Chamberlayne I wylbe playne with the.
1613 E. Cary Trag. Mariam iv. iv. F2v Couldst thou staine So rare perfection... Wert thou plaine, Thou shouldst the wonder of Iudea bee. But oh thou art not. Hell it selfe lies hid Beneath thy heauenly show.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler iii. 74 I wil sing a Song if any body wil sing another; else, to be plain with you, I wil sing none. View more context for this quotation
1712 J. Arbuthnot Lewis Baboon iv. vi. 30 I love to be plain, I'd as lieve see my self in Ecclesdoun-Castle, as thee in Clay-Pool.
a1718 W. Penn Wks. (1726) I. 320 Mordecai was too plain and stout and not Fine and Subtil enough to avoid the Displeasure of Haman.
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 219 I would not refuse him; for to be plain with my Circumstances, I was in no condition now to say no.
1888 J. Ingelow Poems II. 60 I know not what to think, Unless you are his wife. Are you his wife? Be plain with me.
1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker xvii. 271 I will be plain with you, and own that I am in possession of the facts.
1960 R. Bolt Man for all Seasons ii. iv. 14 Sir Thomas, I will be plain with you—plain that is, so far as the diplomatic decencies permit.
12. Of something spoken or expressed: free from ambiguity, evasion, or subterfuge; straightforward, direct, blunt. Frequently in plain truth. See also plain language n. at Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > plainness > [adjective] > straightforward or direct
naked?c1225
platc1385
plaina1393
light?a1400
rounda1450
direct1530
frank1548
evena1573
handsmooth1612
point-blank1648
crude1650
plain-spoken1658
plain-spoke1706
unambiguous1751
plump1789
straightforward1806
plain-said1867
pine-blank1883
straight1894
point-to-point1905
non-ambiguous1924
Wife of Bath1926
simpliste1973
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 864 (MED) Of goddes wille and as it was Sche tolde him al the pleine cas.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) Prol. 194 (MED) Clerkis wil write..The pleyn trouthe whan a man is goon.
c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 214 (MED) It is ful profitable to..knowleche þerof þe pleyn trouþe.
c1500 Melusine (1895) 193 Ye saye the playne trouth of it.
a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in Wks. (1557) 39/1 Flattery shall haue more place then plaine and faithfull aduyse.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. xxx Thou shouldest make a playne and directe answere.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxvii. 161 Such..as haue preferred plaine trueth, before painted colours.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iii. xxxvii. 237 The question is..in plain terms, whether the report be true, or a lye.
1695 W. Congreve Love for Love iv. i. 58 Tell me in plain Terms what the matter is with him, or I'll crack your Fools Skull.
1776 Trial Maha Rajah Nundocomar for Forgery 73/2 If you do not give a plain answer to a plain question, you will be committed.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xiii. 286 The Scottish Estates used plain language, simply because it was impossible for them, situated as they were, to use evasive language.
1856 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. v. 462 Plain speech is never without its value.
1895 J. M. Falkner Lost Stradivarius xv. 242 I think it be better that you should thus hear the plain truth from me, lest you should be at the mercy of haphazard reports.
1930 G. B. Shaw Apple Cart ii. 69 In plain terms we require from you an unconditional surrender.
2000 Economist (Nexis) 26 Feb. China's unvarnished ultimatum needs an equally plain response.
V. Of a person, or a person's attributes or character: ordinary, unexceptional, homely.
13. Simple or unpretentious in behaviour, manners, or expression; homely, unaffected. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > unaffectedness or naturalness > [adjective] > unsophisticated
plainc1425
homelyc1426
homespun1590
brown bread1606
unsophisticate1607
simple1613
uncompounded1615
uncourtlike1659
unsophisticated1665
russet-coated1683
buff1792
unvarnished1827
rube1898
cracker-barrel1933
haimish1957
bakya1960
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. 1269 (MED) Lat vs..in our port be but humble & pleyn.
1527 in W. Fraser Douglas Bk. (1885) IV. 343 Apperdone my simpilnes that I amme sa planne in my writingis.
1603 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Hist. Descr. Worlde 82 Being (as all the Germaines are) plaine and homely in their behauiour and intertainment.
1667 S. Pepys Diary 20 Sept. (1974) VIII. 443 And endeed [she] is, as I always thought, one of the modest, prettiest, plain women that ever I saw.
1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 106 This same plain blunt Sea-Animal..in his Tar-Jacket, and wide-kneed Trowzers.
1792 H. H. Brackenridge Mod. Chivalry I. vi. i. 123 Taking an opportunity that very evening, when the young man was walking in the back porch, he joined him, and with the bluntness of a plain man, insisted to converse with him.
1861 M. Arnold On translating Homer 87 Homer, besides being plain in style and diction, was plain in the quality of his thought.
1882 E. L. Chamberlain Gloss. W. Worcs. Words 23 Lady Mairy is such a plain lady; she come into my 'ouse, an' sits down, an' tak's the childern in 'er lap as comfortable as con be. She's as plain as you be, miss, every bit.
1904 Daily Chron. 8 Jan. 5/4 They spoke of their immense pleasure at the visit of their Queen..‘She is a plain woman, a very plain woman like ourselves’.
14. Simple in dress or habits; clothed or living plainly; not luxurious or ostentatious; frugal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > moderation in sensuous gratification > [adjective] > simple life > not given to luxury
plaina1500
unpampered1715
unluxurious1723
non-attached1937
a1500 Thewis Gud Women (Cambr. Kk.1.5) 30 in R. Girvan Ratis Raving & Other Early Scots Poems (1939) 82 Nocht outragous in hire cleithinge, Bot plane maner and gudly thing.
1581 B. Rich Farewell Militarie Profession sig. Riv If plaine or homely, we saie she is a doudie or a slut.
1607 T. Dekker Whore of Babylon sig. G2 I am not gorgious in attire, But simple, plaine and homely.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 632 He is about thirtie sixe yeares, very ciuill and plaine in habite.
1663 A. Cowley Ess. in Verse & Prose (1669) 130 The old plain way, ye Gods, let me be Poor.
1700 J. Dryden Char. Good Parson in Fables 535 The Holy Father holds a double Reign, The Prince may keep his Pomp; the Fisher must be plain.
1795 H. More Shepherd of Salisbury-Plain i. 18 A plain frugal man, who..was remarked to give away more than any of his show-away neighbours.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast vii. 55 The ship lay off and on, and a boat came alongside of us, and put on board the captain, a plain young Quaker, dressed all in brown.
1855 N. Hawthorne Jrnl. 12 Aug. in Eng. Notebks. (1997) I. iii. 286 Glimpsing through, you see that a cottager's life must be the very plainest and homeliest that ever was lived by man and woman.
1871 J. S. Blackie Four Phases Morals i. 6 His habits of life were remarkably plain and frugal.
1900 Dict. National Biogr. at D. Williams He was..careful, though plain, in dress.
2003 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press (Nexis) 26 Oct. 3 a Saying he is mild-mannered and plain in his dress is an understatement.
15. Having no special or outstanding qualities; not exceptionally gifted or cultured; simple, ordinary, unsophisticated.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > mediocrity > [adjective]
feeblec1275
demeanc1380
unnoblec1384
coarse1424
colourlessc1425
passable1489
meana1500
indifferent1532
plain1539
so-so1542
mediocre1586
ordinary1590
fameless1611
middling1652
middle-rate1658
ornery1692
so-soish1819
nohow1828
betwixt and between1832
indifferential1836
null1847
undazzling1855
deviceless1884
uncompetitive1885
tug1890
run of the mill1919
serviceable1920
dim1958
spammy1959
comme ci, comme ça1968
vanilla1972
meh2007
1539 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus Prouerbes sig. B.viv Plaine and homely men call a fygge, a fygge, & a spade a spade.
1562 W. Bullein Bk. Simples f. 15 v, in Bulwarke of Defence Enula campana, which we common plain people call Alacompano.
1592 A. Day 2nd Pt. Eng. Secretorie sig. P4v, in Eng. Secretorie (rev. ed.) What in my plaine conceyte..may be thought most consonant and worthie.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iii. v. 53 I pray thee vnderstand a plaine man in his plaine meaning. View more context for this quotation
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 165. ¶4 A Man of good Estate and plain Sense.
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 7 To me, who am but a plain man, the proceeding looks a little too refined, and too ingenious. View more context for this quotation
1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. Pref. p. xv A plain citizen of the republic of letters.
1935 G. Blake Shipbuilders vi. 155 He thought of plain people, without any bookish culture, without any metropolitan confidence..moving from house to house.
1993 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 June e5/1 The people who work in porn films are just plain folks and not the drug-crazed sleazoids they're often thought to be.
16. Not high-ranking; lowly, humble, common.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > [adjective] > common
unornOE
commona1382
vulgar1530
popular1533
plain1542
dunghill1548
ordinarya1586
plebeious1610
roturier1614
terraefilian1887
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 167 The fair flatte truthe, that the uplandyshe or homely and plain clubbes of ye countree dooen use.
1580 G. Harvey Let. to Spenser in Wks. (1884) I. 84 No man but Minion, Stowte, Lowte, Plaine swayne, quoth a Lording.
1620 tr. G. Boccaccio Decameron II. viii. ii. f. 58v Among many other of his feminine Parishioners,..there was one more pleasing in his wanton eye, then any of the rest, named Monna Belcolore,..wife to a plaine mecanicke man.
1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre v. xxix. 279 Seeing within fourteen generations, the royall bloud of the Kings of Judah ran in the veins of plain Joseph a painfull carpenter.
1641 R. Carpenter Experience, Hist., & Divinitie iii. iv. 28 The Gout: which we poore plaine people are ignorant of.
1742 J. Wesley Wks. (1830) I. 372 I preached to several hundred of plain people.
1890 J. K. Hosmer Anglo-Saxon Freedom 264 The admission in England of a vast body of the plain people to a share in the government.
1924 Amer. Mercury Dec. 450/1 The late war was sold..by convincing the plain people that the destruction of the other fellow would produce immense prosperity at home.
1996 H. K. Smith Events leading up to my Death lxxvi. 369 [Carter] relished his lower status and exhibited his differentness as President in small ways, like..visiting with plain people instead of notables.
17. Of ordinary appearance; not beautiful or good-looking; homely; euphemistic unattractive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > lack of beauty > [adjective]
unfairc888
unhonestc1384
unlovesomec1390
uncomelya1400
unfreelya1400
unlovelyc1400
unbeautiful1495
beautiless1531
unpretty1562
unhandsomea1586
loveless1601
featureless1609
invenust1623
unhighted?1630
unbeauteousa1660
plain1675
wanliesum1818
unbonny1830
ordinary1847
plainish1856
unsonsy1894
1675 J. Crowne Countrey Wit v. 77 Sir Man. A most transcendent Beauty? Rash. A plain girl. Sir Man. Not at all, she's the Epitome of Perfection.
1713 C. Johnson Successful Pyrate ii. 18 Chi. Toss me over the Bar, if I don't think she is the most execrable Creature I ever saw. Bor. Poor Chicane, she is indeed a plain woman.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones I. i. viii. 47 A general and bitter Invective against Beauty, with many compassionate Considerations for all honest, plain Girls. View more context for this quotation
1788 A. Hughes Henry & Isabella III. 80 A tall, plain, showy dressed, affected woman.
a1817 J. Austen Persuasion (1818) III. v. 79 An agreeable manner may set off handsome features, but can never alter plain ones. View more context for this quotation
1838 Baroness Bunsen in A. J. C. Hare Life & Lett. Baroness Bunsen (1879) I. xi. 485 The higher classes are decidedly plain and ungraceful.
1890 C. R. Coleridge in Monthly Packet Christmas No. 71 Even in the days of Arthur some women must have been very plain.
1903 Westm. Gaz. 4 Mar. 4/3 Mrs. Praga..declares that ‘nowadays nobody need be plain, and when I say plain I use the word in the sense of ugly’.
1953 H. E. Bates Nature of Love i. 12 There were things you could do to a plain or even an ugly face to make it more tolerable, even to make it attractive or striking or beautiful.
1990 J. Updike Rabbit at Rest ii. 193 Her prim, rather plain face always had a sallow tinge, and this jaundice has deepened.

Phrases

P1. In comparisons (principally in senses from branch III., but occasionally also from branch V.).
a. plain as a pikestaff (also packstaff, pad-staff).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > manifestation > manifestness > [adjective]
sutelc897
openeOE
ebera975
graithc1325
broadc1374
plainc1375
clearc1380
grossc1380
manifest1385
notoire1409
patent1508
sensible?1531
discovered1537
plain as a pikestaff (also packstaff, pad-staff)1542
palpable1545
demonstrative1552
plain as the nose on (in) one's face1560
illustrate1562
appearing1566
notorious1581
obvious1583
unshadowed1593
transparent1597
liquid1610
visible1614
pellucid1644
illustrious1654
apertive1661
conspectable1727
suggestive1806
1542 T. Becon David's Harpe in Early Wks. (1834) 276 He is as plain as a pack-staff.
1591 R. Greene Notable Discouery of Coosenage f. 3 A newe game..that hath no policie nor knauery, but plaine as a pike staffe.
1631 J. Weever Anc. Funerall Monuments 103 In..Scotland..Religion is..pure and spotlesse without ceremonie, and plain as a pike staffe without a surplise.
1650 T. Vaughan Man-mouse 26 He..flings another Calthrop in my way, but it will not prick, it is smooth, and plaine as a pad staffe.
1714 R. Hunter Androboros iii. ii. 22 Why, is not that a Hand as plain as a pike Staff? Is not this a Nose?
1719 in T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth III. 22 When a Reason's as plain as a Pike-staff.
1762 S. Foote Orators i. i. 31 An ye'll but had yer tongue, I'se prove it as plain as a pike-staff.
1834 T. Hood Tylney Hall (1840) 379 You've got my meaning as plain as a pikestaff.
1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset I. xlii. 367 The evidence against him was as plain as a pike-staff.
1873 E. Bulwer-Lytton Kenelm Chillingly I. ii. ix. 229 She is as plain as a pikestaff.
1894 Pall Mall Mag. Sept. 37 There was my own spoor as plain as a pikestaff.
1953 D. Whipple Someone at Distance xxxii. 300 ‘It's as plain as a pikestaff he doesn't want you,’ said Miss Daley.
1990 S. Johnson Flying Lessons x. 73 Emma James was blessed with a chameleonlike appearance: able to look plain as a pikestaff, or like someone at whom you looked twice.
b. †plain as a packsaddle, †plain as Salisbury (punning on Salisbury Plain), plain as print, plain as the nose on (†in) one's face, plain as day(light), etc. See also Dunstable n. 1, as plain as pottage at pottage n. Phrases.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > manifestation > manifestness > [adjective]
sutelc897
openeOE
ebera975
graithc1325
broadc1374
plainc1375
clearc1380
grossc1380
manifest1385
notoire1409
patent1508
sensible?1531
discovered1537
plain as a pikestaff (also packstaff, pad-staff)1542
palpable1545
demonstrative1552
plain as the nose on (in) one's face1560
illustrate1562
appearing1566
notorious1581
obvious1583
unshadowed1593
transparent1597
liquid1610
visible1614
pellucid1644
illustrious1654
apertive1661
conspectable1727
suggestive1806
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes ii. f. 179v Thom trouthe, or plain Sarisbuirie.]
1560 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique (new ed.) ii. f. 72 An honeste true dealyng seruaunte out of doubte, plaine as a packesaddell..though his witte was simple.
1613 E. Cary Trag. Mariam iv. iv It is as plaine as water, and deniall Makes of thy falsehood but a greater triall.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) ii. vii. 52 And why sir must they so? The why is plaine, as way to Parish Church. View more context for this quotation
1695 W. Congreve Love for Love iv. i. 60 As witness my Hand..in great Letters. Why, 'tis as plain as the Nose in one's Face.
a1704 T. Brown Wks. (1760) I. 40 Since you see 'tis as plain as a cow's thumb.
1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews II. iii. v. 91 It is as plain as Daylight to those who converse in the World, as I have done these three Years. View more context for this quotation
1760 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy I. x. 47 'Twas plain as the sun at noon-day, he would pocket the expence of the licence, ten times told the very first year.
1802 Deb. Congr. U.S. 25 Feb. (1850) 759 As plain as a turnpike.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xli. 447 ‘Why,’ said Mr. Roker, ‘it's as plain as Salisbury.’
1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xi. 121 It was plain as the sun at midday.
1895 Cornhill Mag. Dec. 581 A look which said as plain as print, ‘Have you not had enough?’
1910 E. M. Forster Howards End xxiv. 202 His objections to the house were plain as daylight now.
1937 D. L. Sayers Busman's Honeymoon ix. 200 I came in nine o'clock from fetchin' a pail o' water and I sees you plain as the nose on my face a-talkin' to him at this very winder.
1953 M. Renault Charioteer v. 103 As they turned Andrew looked from one to the other, his pleasure in their amity as plain as print.
1994 K. Kelly Out of Control xi. 186 It was as plain as daylight that personal computers and their eventual high-powered offspring would reconfigure the world to our specifications.
P2. to hide in plain sight (also view) and variants: to conceal or be concealed in a very open or unexpectedly obvious place; to go unnoticed or unremarked while remaining visible or overt, esp. by blending into the surroundings.In quot. 1834 with implication of carrying out a pointless or fatuous activity.
ΚΠ
1834 N.Y. Christian Messenger 11 Oct. 398/3 I don't always like to give my whole name; neither do I like S. R. S——y, as Br. Thomas proposed. It looks a little like hiding in plain sight.
1892 Cultivator 17 Nov. 876/1 A circle of pasteboard or cardboard the size of a silver dollar is hidden in plain sight.
1913 Racine (Wisconsin) Jrnl.-News 13 Nov. 8/3 Was not the purloined letter concealed in plain sight, so prominently placed that it escaped the search?
1919 A. R. Bond Inventions Great War xi. 211 The eyes of the submarines..brought a hurry call for the artists, and up to them was put the problem of hiding ships in plain sight.
1961 Washington Post 25 Jan. (City Life section) b9/3 A simple..candy hunt in which the items are ‘hidden’ in plain view.
1999 J. F. Dunnigan & A. A. Nofi Dirty Little Secrets Vietnam War xi. 277 Sappers had to remain hidden while planning and setting up their assault. This was best accomplished by knowing how to hide yourself in plain sight.
2009 Independent 15 Sept. 3/1 The secrets are built into the architecture and are thus hidden in plain sight.

Compounds

C1. Parasynthetic, as plain-bodied, plain-coloured, plain-faced, plain-featured, etc., adjs.
ΚΠ
1702 tr. G. Boccaccio Il Decamerone II. lv. 38 Messer Forese da Rabatta, was a very little Man, ill shaped, plain Faced, flat Nosed like a Bologna Dog.
1797 Milistina II. 104 He was a plain-featured man of between fifty and sixty.
1818 M. Edgeworth Let. 24 Nov. (1971) 147 A sensible plain mannered woman—more housekeeper-looking then lady-like.
1820 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Oct. 12 Thick plain-soled leather shoes.
1851 J. Ruskin Stones of Venice I. xx. 223 The fish..are always plain bodied creatures in the best mediæval sculpture.
1882 ‘Ouida’ In Maremma I. i. 18 A plain-featured, clear-skinned woman.
1938 W. de la Mare Memory & Other Poems 61 A solemn plain-faced child.
1954 D. A. Bannerman Birds Brit. Isles III. 79 Marsh Warbler... This is another plain-backed warbler, being uniform olive-brown from the crown to the rump and showing no contrast between the rump and back.
1972 Guardian 17 May 9/5 Plain coloured paper towels cost 17p for a two-roll pack.
1994 Harper's Mag. Nov. 30/2 I am a rather plain-featured, insignificant-looking creature, but I have a graceful personality.
C2. With present participles of verbs taking an adjective complement, as plain-seeming, plain-sounding, adjs.
ΚΠ
1844 R. M. Milnes Palm Leaves 8 The truth revealed by one plain-seeming man.
1978 Washington Post (Nexis) 7 Sept. (Maryland Voters' Guide Campaign 78) 2 The lawyers..would be the best writing lawyers we could find; they would be able to turn legalese into plain sounding prose.
1992 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 6 Sept. (Review Suppl.) 29 Plain-seeming love poems edged with surrealism.
C3.
plain-back n. (also plain-backs) Weaving a kind of worsted fabric.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from wool > [noun] > made from specific types of wool > worsted > types of
stamin?c1225
worsted1348
monk's cloth1441
set cloth1467
vesse1483
St. Thomas worsted1518
St. Omer's worsted1530
caddis1558
cloth-rash1592
Philip and Cheyney1614
none-so-pretty1622
tammy1675
cheyneyc1680
crape1682
bunting1742
beaudoy1759
wildbore1784
Princetta?1790
Circassian1824
plain-back1830
Coburg1844
Tournai1858
Tricotine1914
1830 in J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. (1842) II. 270 The principal manufacture, viz. 44 inch plain-backs.
1842 J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. 415 They next imitated the article of cotton jeans, in worsted, with success, to which they gave the name of plain-backs, out of which has sprung that immense and valuable branch of merinos.
1960 C. W. Cunnington et al. Dict. Eng. Costume 264/1 Merino,..a thin twilled woollen cloth... A worsted plainback very soft to the touch.
plain bearing n. Engineering a bearing consisting of a cylindrical hole in a block.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > shaft > [noun] > parts of > support or bearing
headstock1688
brass1731
bearing1734
carriage1788
step1814
bearance1826
footstep1836
cod1839
pivot bearing1851
roller bearing1857
thrust-bearing1858
step-plate1869
thrust-bearer1869
needle bearing1870
journal-bearing1875
wall-bearing1875
plain bearing1893
tumbler-bearing1901
split bearing1902
sleeve bearing1907
thrust-box1918
taper roller bearing1930
1893 Overland Monthly Apr. 392/2 The machines ridden were heavy affairs, with plain bearings, and short, straight handles,—far removed from the light, graceful easy-running wheels of today.
1971 B. Scharf Engin. & its Lang. xii. 133 In their simplest form, journal bearings consist of a block with a central hole for the shaft... Smaller bearings of this type are..referred to as eye-bearings, larger ones as plain bearings.
2002 Spin-off Winter 81/2 The plain bearing works on a principle known as the wedge effect. Once the shaft starts to turn, it literally rides on a film of oil, and there is no metal-to-metal contact. Plain bearings are used for just about everything imaginable.
Plain Bob n. Campanology a change-ringing method in which the bells make the minimum possible departure from the plain hunt.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > bell-ringing > [noun] > going through all the changes > changes > specific
set peal16..
grandsire1668
whole pull1668
bob1671
peal1671
course1677
set changes1677
single1684
single change1688
Plain Bob1702
Stedman1731
Superlative Surprise1788
touch1788
triple1798
triple bob major1809
maximus1813
royal1813
call changes1837
slam1854
cater1872
cinques1872
triple change1872
plain hunt1874
plain hunting1874
quarter peal1888
method1901
short course1904
1702 J. D. & C. M. Campanalogia Improved 50 (heading) Grandsire Bob commonly called plain Bob.
a1855 G. D. Pitt Simon Lee i. iii. 15 Sexton and bell-ringer for fifty years—plain Bob—grandsire Bob—Bob major—Bob royal, or Bob Maximus, know them all—ring a marriage peal with any man of my age.
1931 E. Morris Hist. Change Ringing viii. 346 Plain Bob..is similar to the ‘Original’, in which all ‘hunt’, until the treble returns to lead, when, instead of allowing the ‘course’ to run round, second place is made by the one the treble takes from lead, thereby causing each pair immediately behind them to ‘dodge’.
2001 Ringing World 23 Mar. 306/2 For the sake of historical accuracy they were Plain Bob Major rung at 33 Hartington Road on the 1st March 1946 and Plain Bob Royal rung at The African Oil Mills on the 19th September 1949.
† plain chart n. Obsolete = plane chart n. at plane adj. Compounds 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > map-making > map > [noun] > chart > types of chart
plain chart1614
plane chart1696
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > navigational aids > [noun] > chart > types of
plain chart1614
plane chart1696
variation-chart1727
1614 R. Handson Questions Navigation 12 in tr. B. Pitiscus Trigonom. I may find the third side, B.D. as was taught according to the plaine Chart, in the former part of this Proposition.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. ii. 46 The making the plain Sea-Chard, and the true Sea-Chard.
plain chocolate n. chocolate made of cocoa solids and sugar, without additional flavourings; (now esp.) dark chocolate, made without the addition of milk.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > confections or sweetmeats > sweets > [noun] > a sweet > chocolate
jessamy-chocolate1697
milk chocolate1723
plain chocolate1737
chocolate drop1764
chocolate cream1851
chocolate1852
chocolate liqueur1864
chocolate button1865
choc1874
chocolate bar1875
choccy1885
langue de chat1897
black chocolate1902
soft centre1902
truffle1902
liqueur chocolate1904
bar1906
bark1910
chocolate coin1910
white chocolate1917
dark chocolate1930
Mars bar1932
Smarties1939
nutty1947
liqueur1965
1737 S. Humphreys tr. N. A. Pluche Spectacle de la Nature (ed. 2) II. xv. 331 They are then formed into a Paste, which is afterward boil'd with Sugar; and this is called plain Chocolate.
1883 Oshkosh (Wisconsin) Daily Northwestern 15 May Baker's premium chocolate, the best preparation of plain chocolate for family use.
2004 Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 31 May 93 The fat in high-quality, plain chocolate is cholesterol-free.
plain-clothed adj. (chiefly of a police officer) wearing ordinary clothes as work clothes, as opposed to a uniform; also figurative.
ΚΠ
1886 W. Carleton City Ballads 113 Plain-clothed Truth is always standing round, Or following rogues through every land and clime, And gets them, if you'll only give him time.
1906 Daily Chron. 24 Oct. 7/2 Inspector Scantlebury..summoning a policeman or two, and a few plain-clothed detectives, ordered the suffragists to quit the hall.
1994 N.Y. Times Mag. 27 Nov. 63/3 The plainclothed spies and bodyguards of the secret police units.
plain clothes n. ordinary clothes rather than a uniform, esp. as worn by a police officer; frequently attributive; (also occasionally) = plainclothesman n.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > law enforcement > investigation of crime > [noun] > detective
plant1812
plain clothes1822
detective1850
plainclothesman1856
mouser1863
D.1869
sleuth1872
tec1879
dee1882
demon1889
sleuth-hound1890
split1891
fink1903
hawkshaw1903
busy1904
dick1905
gumshoe1913
Richard1914
shamus1925
cozzer1950
Five-O1983
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > for specific purpose > civilian
coloured clothesa1753
mufti1816
plain clothes1822
cit1835
plebeskin1888
civvies1889
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > for specific people > for members of a body or association > other
blue1590
Windsor uniform1781
plain clothes1822
khaki1857
monkey suit1914
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing clothing for specific people > wearing uniform > not
plain clothes1822
uniformless1863
ununiformed1867
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing clothing for specific people > wearing uniform > types of
liveried1637
bloody-backed1770
plain clothes1822
well-liveried1835
red-breeches1840
uniform1895
1822 T. Creevey in H. Maxwell Creevey Papers (1903) I. x. 238 Who should overtake me but the Duke of Wellington in his curricle, in his plain clothes and Harvey by his side in his regimentals.
1852 J. W. Carlyle Lett. II. 206 Policemen..in plain clothes, and in uniform.
1908 K. Grahame Wind in Willows viii. 182 Policemen in their helmets, waving truncheons; and shabbily dressed men in pot-hats, obvious and unmistakable plain-clothes detectives.
1914 ‘Bartimeus’ Naval Occasions xxv. 287 Not a bad principle either—saves your plain-clothes from wearing out.
1988 J. Brady Stone of Heart (1990) 108 The plain clothes stood leaning against the wall.
1994 Times 1 Dec. 2/7 A young London policeman is contesting an order to get rid of a ponytail he grew while working in plainclothes.
plainclothesman n. a policeman who wears ordinary clothes rather than a uniform to work; a detective.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > law enforcement > investigation of crime > [noun] > detective
plant1812
plain clothes1822
detective1850
plainclothesman1856
mouser1863
D.1869
sleuth1872
tec1879
dee1882
demon1889
sleuth-hound1890
split1891
fink1903
hawkshaw1903
busy1904
dick1905
gumshoe1913
Richard1914
shamus1925
cozzer1950
Five-O1983
1856 A. Wynter Curiosities of Civilisation 469 The force consists of three inspectors, nine sergeants, and a body of police termed ‘plain-clothes men’.
1899 J. S. Clouston Lunatic at Large ii. v. 140 Keep your eye on that man, officer,..and put your plain-clothes' men on his track.
1925 J. Dos Passos Manhattan Transfer iii. i. 277 A plainclothesman opened the door of the cab and looked in as they went out the gate.
1992 Times of India 30 July I/6 The Delhi Gate area was simultaneously being watched by plainclothesmen.
† plain-compass n. Obsolete a simple form of magnetic compass used by surveyors.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > map-making > surveying > [noun] > surveying instruments > for taking bearings
prismatic compass1842
plain-compass1868
1868 W. M. Gillespie Treat. on Land-surv. 427 In regard to the best kind of Instruments for particular purposes, we would here say, that where only common surveying, or the bearing of lines in the surveys for County Maps is required, a Plain Compass is all that is necessary.
a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. II. 1722/2 Plain-compass, a simple form of the surveyor's instrument. It has a needle about six inches long, a graduated circle, main plate, levels and sights, and is placed upon the brass head of the Jacob-staff.
plain cook n. a cook who specializes in, or most frequently prepares, plain dishes (see sense 6).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > cook > [noun] > plain cook
plain cook1759
1759 tr. L. Ariosto Satires 37 My plain taste let a plain cook supply.
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas I. ii. i. 175 Leonarda..passed for a very decent plain cook.
1988 S. Paretsky Blood Shot xix. 143 He was a good plain cook, self-taught as a hobby during his widowerhood.
plain cook v. (transitive and intransitive) to cook plain dishes (see sense 6).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > undergo cooking [verb (intransitive)] > perform cooking
cookc1400
kitchen1842
plain cooka1845
a1845 T. Hood Choice Wks. (1854) II. 30 Would you not rather dine at the cheapest ordinary at one, with all its niceties and nastities, plain cooked in a London cellar?
1991 in Gender & Soc. (1995) 9 547 You can't run to the supermarket to get things. We are plain cooking. We use salt, pepper, and onion as basic additives.
plain cookery n. = plain cooking n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > [noun] > style of cooking > simple
petecurya1475
plain cookery1631
plain cooking1769
home cooking1853
cuisine bourgeoise1951
1631 B. Jonson Staple of Newes iii. ii. 42 in Wks. II In one sixe months, and by plaine cookery..To make such sauces for the Savages and cookes their meats, with those inticing steemes. As it would make our Caniball-Christians, Forbeare the mutuall eating one another.
1758 London Mag. Mar. 133/2 To instruct them in the knowledge of plain cookery, to roast, boil, brew, and bake.
1808 Monthly Anthol. (Boston, Mass.) in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. 79 (1964) 264/1–2 Plain cookery is rejected with disgust by the palled appetite, which has been vitiated by habitual indulgence in sweetmeats, pickles and cayenne.
1995 Quill & Quire (Nexis) July 56 Good old standbys such as tourtiere, English plain cookery, and B.C. salmon loom large, and the cuisine being portrayed seems stodgy as well as gastronomically uninspired.
plain cooking n. the action or process of cooking simply, or with simple ingredients; food produced in this way.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > [noun] > style of cooking > simple
petecurya1475
plain cookery1631
plain cooking1769
home cooking1853
cuisine bourgeoise1951
1769 tr. G. B. de Mably Phocion's Conversat. v. 171 The banquets of the great king, my dear Cleophanes, do not come up to a dish of vegetables of Phocion's wife's plain cooking.
1894 N. Amer. Rev. Jan. 44 English people have realized that good plain cooking is infinitely to be preferred to an ambitious bad French cuisine.
1934 Jrnl. Negro Educ. 3 32/1 In home economics the girls are taught plain cooking and dressmaking.
1990 D. Bolger Journey Home (1991) i. 31 I'd just imagine my mother's plain cooking gradually stuck to the plate, the meat drying up, the shrivelled vegetables.
plain-darn v. transitive to darn using the basic stitch.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > mending or repairing > [verb (transitive)] > mend fabric or clothing
to make againc1384
stop1480
draw1592
darnc1600
to draw up1603
fine-draw1665
plain-darn1880
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > sew or ornament textile fabric [verb (transitive)] > sew > repair or mend
draw1592
darnc1600
to draw up1603
ranter1607
fine-draw1665
clobber1851
plain-darn1880
1880 L. S. Floyer Plain Hints Examiners Needlework 52 To plain-darn a hole in stocking material, and mark on coarse material any two letters.
plain darning n. darning using the basic stitch.
ΚΠ
1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward Dict. Needlework 148/1 The embroidery is done in Satin stitch or in plain Darning.
c1917 M. E. Fuller Constructive Sewing ii. 25 Fig. 20 illustrates plain darning and the type is in common use.
† plain Dunstable n. Obsolete see Dunstable n. 2.
plain edge n. and adj. (a) n. (esp. in bobbin lace) an undecorated edge; (b) adj. having a smooth or undecorated edge; (of lace) not having a pearl-edge.
ΚΠ
1847 Times 13 Apr. 8/2 The defendant's [lace] tray exhibited the plain edge as well as the two goffered edges, which the complainant's did not.
1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward Dict. Needlework 461 Buckle Stem differs from Stem Stitch by being worked with a Plain Edge upon both sides, [etc.].
1900 E. Jackson Hist. Hand-made Lace 215 Plain edge, an edge in bobbin lace undecorated with loops or pearls.
1983 J. S. Foster Struct. & Fabric (rev. ed.) I. iii. 213/1 Space timber floor joists at 400mm centre with..22mm plain-edge boarding.
plain flour n. flour that does not contain a raising agent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > flour > [noun]
floura1325
farina1800
plain flour1879
all-purpose flour1910
1879 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. May 608/1 The food of the Pathan consists of the usual chappati or hand-made cake of plain flour, baked in the ashes or in a small oven.
1961 G. Farwell Vanishing Australians v. 72 His damper, johnnycakes, brownie and Burdekin duck were all..improvised from plain flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and scraps of meat.
1999 BBC Good Food Apr. 66/1 For a thicker sauce, dust the meat with seasoned plain flour before sautéing or browning.
plain Friend n. a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) who adheres to the traditional principle of simplicity of dress, behaviour, and speech.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > sect > Christianity > Protestantism > Quakerism > [noun] > person
meeter1646
shaker1648
Quaker1651
friend1656
yea-and-nay1685
trembler1689
Whaker1700
broad-brim1749
plain Friend1774
shad-belly1842
drabman1860
1774 J. Adams Diary 7 Sept. (1961) II. 126 This plain Friend, and his plain, tho pretty Wife, with her Thee's and Thou's, had provided us the most Costly Entertainment.
1890 C. E. Stephen Quaker Strongholds 148 ‘Plain Friends’ are those who are resolved to dress according to the settled principles which commend themselves to their own mind, not enslaving themselves to passing fashions.
1987 Amer. Hist. Rev. 92 15 While ‘plain’ Friends such as the Cadburys were content to remain a ‘peculiar people’ set apart by speech and dress, ‘gay’ Friends abandoned the tradition of the simple life.
† plain hackle n. Angling Obsolete an artificial fly hackled in the most basic way; cf. palmer n.1 2b.
ΚΠ
1676 C. Cotton Compl. Angler 318 This month also a Plain Hackle or Palmer fly..will kill.
1758 T. Fairfax Compl. Sportsman 170 In February, the palmer-fly or plain hackle must have a rough, black body, which may be done with black spaniel's hair, or the whirl of an ostridge feather.
1857 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) I. 680/1 A plain hackle, black or red, without wings, and commonly called palmer.
plainhead n. a variety of canary having no crest.
ΚΠ
1885 Bazaar, Exchange & Mart 30 Mar. 1248/2 Lancashire coppies and plainheads..special prize for best buff coppy.
1902 W. Bateson & E. R. Saunders Rep. to Evol. Comm. Royal Soc. No. 1. 131 The kind of crest desired for exhibition can, according to canary-fanciers, be produced most easily by mating crested birds with non-crested, or plain-heads as they are called.
1993 Cage & Aviary Birds 13 Nov. 6/2 Identification is easy: the Corona is the crested bird and the Consort is the plainhead.
plain-headed adj. † (a) (of a person) ignorant, foolish (obsolete); (b) having a smooth, unornamented, or unattractive head.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > [adjective]
unlearedeOE
untowenc1000
unwittyc1000
skillessc1175
uncouthc1220
lewda1225
lorelessa1300
simplea1325
layc1330
uncunning1340
untaughtc1340
unknowingc1350
rudea1382
roida1400
unquainta1400
ignorant?c1400
unlearnedc1400
misknowing?a1425
simple-hearted?c1425
unknownc1475
unkenningc1480
unweeting1483
nescienta1500
craftlessc1530
misliterate1532
sillya1547
ingram1553
gross1561
inscient1578
borowe1579
plain-headeda1586
empirical1588
rudeful1589
lack-learning1590
learnless?1593
wotless?1594
ingrant1597
untutored1597
small-knowing1598
uninstructed1598
unlearnt1609
unread1609
unware?1611
nescious1623
inscious1633
inscientifical1660
uninformed1702
unaware1704
unable1721
unsuspecting1776
inerudite1801
ill-informed1824
incognoscent1827
unminded1831
unknowledgeable1837
knowledgelessc1843
parviscient1862
clueless1943
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > simplicity, simple-mindedness > [adjective]
weak1423
simple-hearted?c1425
good1480
innocent1548
plain-headeda1586
simple1604
green1605
zany1616
soft1621
ungifted1637
softly1652
half-witted1712
simple-minded1749
simpletonic1780
simpletonian1800
sawney1805
simpletonish1819
simply disposed1848
putty-headed1857
cabbage-looking1898
goonish1921
wally1922
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. xxvii. sig. Ff6v That the commons..were to plain headed to say their opinions.
1755 Gibson's New Treat. Dis. Horses (ed. 3) I. iv. 31 Such Horses are often plain-headed.
1888 F. G. Lee in Archaeologia 51 363 Holding a book..and a plain-headed staff.
2003 Egypt Today (Nexis) 11 Sept. Plain-headed but with similar tail patterns.
plain homage n. Feudal Law (now historical) homage entailing little or no obligation of service; contrasted with liege homage n. at liege adj. and n. Compounds; cf. simple homage n. at simple adj., n., adv., and int. Compounds 3.
ΚΠ
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Plain Homage, or Homage of a Fee, where no Oath of Fidelity is taken.
1899 Macmillan's Mag. Nov. 24/1 Plain homage being the rule as between States.
1973 Amer. Hist. Rev. 78 887 All noble feudatories did liege homage whereas non-noble serjeants did plain homage.
plain hunt n. [ < plain adj.2 + hunt n.2 (compare hunt n.2 3)] Campanology the most basic method of change-ringing, in which in each course the treble follows a direct path from the lead to the back and then back to the lead again, and the other bells follow the same path in their turn; (also) such a path followed by any bell.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > bell-ringing > [noun] > going through all the changes > changes > specific
set peal16..
grandsire1668
whole pull1668
bob1671
peal1671
course1677
set changes1677
single1684
single change1688
Plain Bob1702
Stedman1731
Superlative Surprise1788
touch1788
triple1798
triple bob major1809
maximus1813
royal1813
call changes1837
slam1854
cater1872
cinques1872
triple change1872
plain hunt1874
plain hunting1874
quarter peal1888
method1901
short course1904
1874 W. Banister Art & Sci. Change Ringing 14 The treble works in continuous plain hunt; whilst the other bells hunt, make places, and dodge.
1965 W. G. Wilson Change Ringing iv. 13 The basic principle involved in ringing changes on bells, or in working them out on paper, is called the plain hunt.
1965 W. G. Wilson Change Ringing iv. 14 Here are examples on three, four and six bells... In each of these examples, if you draw a line through the path of any one number, representing a bell, you will get a straight path from front to back and then from back to front. This is a plain hunt.
1997 Guardian 3 Apr. (Online section) 9/2 The simplest way to work through them is known as a plain hunt, achieved by transposing the ringing sequence of each pair of bells for one strike, of the two middle pairs for the next strike, each pair again for the third strike, the middle pairs again for the fourth, and so on.
plain hunting n. Campanology the ringing of a plain hunt.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > bell-ringing > [noun] > going through all the changes > changes > specific
set peal16..
grandsire1668
whole pull1668
bob1671
peal1671
course1677
set changes1677
single1684
single change1688
Plain Bob1702
Stedman1731
Superlative Surprise1788
touch1788
triple1798
triple bob major1809
maximus1813
royal1813
call changes1837
slam1854
cater1872
cinques1872
triple change1872
plain hunt1874
plain hunting1874
quarter peal1888
method1901
short course1904
1874 W. Banister Art & Sci. Change Ringing 22 Each bell has a plain hunting course, except when treble leads.
1965 W. G. Wilson Change Ringing iv. 16 If we confined our ringing on four or more bells to a plain hunt we should soon get very bored with it. So once we have mastered plain hunting we must learn to vary it.
2003 Irish Times (Nexis) 20 Dec. 58 Grandsire Doubles, Cambridge Surprise Minor, Oxford Bob Triples and Plain Hunting - what wonderful names are given to the different orders of ringing.
Plain Jane n. and adj. (also plain Jane) (a) n. a girl or woman who is unattractive or simple in appearance or dress; (hence) an object, etc., which is basic, not ornamental, unattractive, etc.; (b) adj. unadorned, simple, ordinary, undistinguished.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > lack of beauty > ugliness > [adjective]
foulOE
uglyc1386
malgraciousa1393
unsightlya1400
loathc1400
ouglec1415
shrewdc1430
unsightyc1440
unwholesome?a1500
evil-favoured1530
ill-favoured1530
uglisome1530
huggeda1533
hard-favoureda1535
evil-liking1535
ill-favorited1579
stigmatical1589
stigmatic1597
sightlessa1616
hard-featured1638
grislya1681
bad-looking1757
unmackly1765
unfavourable1776
dissightly1777
eyesore1798
wavelled1886
spiderly1891
Plain Jane1912
hackit1985
the mind > attention and judgement > lack of beauty > ugliness > [noun] > ugly person > woman
hagc1400
horse-godmother1569
Hecatea1616
urchin1657
Plain Jane1912
scag1938
fuglya1970
mutt1983
minger1992
munter1997
1912 C. Mackenzie Carnival ii. 14 She sha'n't be a Plain Jane and No Nonsense, with her hair screwed back like a broom, but she shall be Jenny, sweet and handsome, with lips made for kissing and eyes that will sparkle and shine.
1936 C. Day Lewis Friendly Tree i. 11 It was the plain-Jane, methodical part of herself.
1972 J. McClure Caterpillar Cop vii. 117 If ever there was a Plain Jane, she's it, poor kid.
1974 Country Life 2 May 1082/3 Plain-leaved parsley..is..reputedly more flavoursome, though a plain Jane and useless decoratively.
1995 Smash Hits 29 Mar. 51/4 Jo doesn't get to wear anything too lacy. It's plain-Jane stuff throughout.
plain knit adj. and n. (a) adj. knitted in a plain stitch (cf. 10b); (b) n. a plain knitting stitch; a garment or fabric knitted in such a stitch.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > consisting of loops or looped stitches > knitted fabric > stitches > plain
plain knit1842
garter-stitch1909
knit stitch1932
1842 Times 27 Apr. 3/5 (advt.) 12 dozen men's plain knit hose, 12 dozen women's ditto.
1906 Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) 11 May 12 (advt.) Ladies White Lace Stockings, new patterns, others in the plain knit and still others with lace boot.
1959 Spectator 9 Jan. 44/2 Agilon is a stretch yarn..which makes a clinging stretch stocking that is noticeably stronger and warmer than the plain knit.
1986 Slimming Nov. 15/3 The sweater dress is the hardest-to-wear-well garment around. Any plain-knit tube is extremely enlarging and unkindly guaranteed to grab just where you wish it wouldn't.
2002 San Francisco Chron. (Nexis) 29 Aug. a2 Two styles of body suit and one top, all rendered in plain knit with contrasting black trim at the necklines.
plain knitted adj. = plain knit adj. and n.
ΚΠ
1910–11 T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Fall–Winter 20/1 Women's Coat Sweater, made of knitted worsted, in fancy stitch. The V-neck and fronts have wide, plain knitted border.
2002 Textile Research Jrnl. (Nexis) 72 361 Researchers in Turkey have developed a means for predicting the machine gauge and diameter to produce cotton plain knitted fabrics.
plain language n. (a) speech or writing that is direct, straightforward, unostentatious, or easily understood; (occasionally also, esp. with intensifier) coarse or vulgar language; (b) the manner of speech formerly traditional among members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) (now rare); (c) = plain text n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > a language > register > [noun] > plain or straightforward language
plain Englisha1438
plain languagec1450
yeomanryc1500
plain (later also downright) Dunstable1578
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > code, cipher > [noun] > unencoded language
plain text1918
plain language1929
c1450 J. Lydgate Secrees (Sloane 2464) 450 It shulde be translatyd ffrom Arabyk to moor Pleyn language, ffor latyn is moore pleyn and moor dylatyd.
a1625 J. Fletcher Loyal Subj. iv. iv, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Fff2 Take heed Of bo-peep with your pate, your pate sir, I speak plain language now.
1694 W. Penn Pref. in G. Fox Jrnl. (1852) I. 14 They also used the plain language of Thou and Thee.
1781 M. P. Andrews Baron Kinkvervankotsdorsprakingatchdern iii. 61 Why then, in plain language, young Sir, I was got into Madam Cecil's apartment, and the Baron came in suddenly, and caught me in the very fact.
1890 C. E. Stephen Quaker Strongholds 149 The ‘plain language’ best known as the use of thee and thou for you in speaking to one person, and of first, second, &c. for the days of the week and the months.
1929 Radiotelegraph Convent. & Gen. Regulations (Internat. Radiotelegraph Conf. 1927) 21 Correct transmission and correct reception by ear of code groups..at a speed of 20 (twenty) groups per minute, and of text in native plain language, at a speed of 25 (twenty-five) words per minute.
1973 H. Gruppe Truxton Cipher 221 Our convoys had firm orders to disregard plain-language traffic.
1994 Magnet May 50/2 With its intimate voice and plain language, Bukowski's poetry challenged established notions of what poetry could be.
plain man n. (a) a layman; a person who is not a specialist or expert in a particular subject; (b) Philosophy a person not given to complex reasoning or philosophical speculation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > philosopher > [noun] > person who is not a philosopher
plain man1658
1658 Mercurius Politicus No. 422. 647 (advt.) A new and accurate Map of the World, called, The plain Mans Globe or Map, because 1. the hard Terms or Names both of Land and Water are explained. [Etc.].
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. xiii. 82 It is not necessary to prove the real existence of a Vacuum, but the Idea of it; which 'tis plain Men have, when they enquire and dispute, whether there be a Vacuum or no?
1760 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy II. xix. 181 In what manner a plain man, with nothing but common sense, could bear up against two such allies in science,—is hard to conceive.
1876 Mind 1 563 What does the ‘plain man’..mean by Moral Intuition?
1904 G. S. Fullerton Syst. Metaphysics xvii. 263 One cannot expect the plain man to realize clearly all that his doctrine implies.
1993 Time Out 31 Mar. 139/3 Our host..goes in search of singing stars in the fifth act of his plain man's guide to opera.
plain muscle n. smooth muscle (see smooth adj. 1b(a)).
ΚΠ
1895 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Plain muscles, unstriated muscles, as opposed to striated muscles.
1940 G. S. Carter Gen. Zool. Invertebr. xviii. 366 Both striped and plain muscle may remain for long periods in a state of partial contraction. This is called tonic contraction and the extent to which the muscle is contracted during such a contraction is called the tone of the muscle.
1981 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 294 492 Two bands of cilia are present, as too is a sphincter of plain muscle.
† plain number n. Mathematics Obsolete = plane number n. at plane adj. Compounds 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > produced in a certain way > produced by two or more factors
compound number1557
flat numbers1557
compound1597
figurate1614
plain number1704
plane number1704
composite number1727
a1679 T. Hobbes Seven Philos. Probl. (1682) viii. 82 There be some Numbers called Plain, others Solid, others Plano-solid.]
1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I Solid Numbers, are those which arise from the Multiplication of a Plain Number, by any other whatsoever.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Plain 20 is a plain Number, produced by the Multiplication of 5 into 4.
plain paper n. (a piece of) paper without a pattern, lines, or other mark; (also) ordinary paper, as opposed to that which has a special finish, purpose, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > equipment for painting or drawing > [noun] > surface for painting or drawing > paper
plain paper1662
cartridge-paper1712
drawing paper1735
Poona paper1829
pounce paper1858
not1859
Whatman1880
art paper1898
Ingres paper1910
1662 Duchess of Newcastle Youths Glory i. v. xv, in Playes Written 146 Young brains are like plain paper books.
1737 Philos. Trans. 1735–6 (Royal Soc.) 39 209 Upon a plain Paper,..describe an Arch.
1821 Times 2 Oct. 3/4 The bankers sent her back an answer,..desiring her to send them all the plain paper that had been worked upon.
1885 Cent. Mag. Sept. 808 Seen through a magnifying glass, rough or plain paper has a surface..made up of fuzzy elevations and depressions.
1995 Lewiscraft CraftLines Summer 3/3 Start with plain paper, either white or coloured.
Plain people n. (also plain people) U.S. any of various religious sects which practise a simple lifestyle, such as the Amish, Mennonites, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > sect > Christianity > Protestantism > Mennonism > Mennonite sects and groups > [noun] > Amish
Amish1830
Plain people1859
Amishman1878
hooker1880
1859 D. W. Bartlett Presidential Candidates iv. 118 They were plain people of the middle rank of English life. They were Quakers, and remained so for more than a century.
1948 Chicago Tribune 25 Jan. iv. 5/4 The Plain People, as they are known, won't use automobiles or tractors, have no telephones, plumbing or political parties.
2002 Philadelphia Inquirer 7 July b3/1 Since at least the close of World War II, tourist throngs have descended on Lancaster County to look at the Plain People, including the Amish, whose buggies compete for space on back roads and farm lanes with buses and SUVs.
plain sail n. Nautical any of the sails constituting the basic rig of a sailing ship; usually in all plain sail.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > sail > [noun] > amount of sail set > sail normally set
plain sail1760
1760 Philos. Trans. 1759 (Royal Soc.) 51 144 Plain sails weather'd according to the common practice.
1829 F. Marryat Naval Officer III. ii. 42 We should..keep..under a plain sail.
1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker xi. 189 There was no other ship in view when the Nora Creina, lying over under all plain sail, began her long and lonely voyage to the wreck.
1987 I. Dear & P. Kemp Pocket Oxf. Guide to Sailing Terms 154/2 Square-rigged ships, setting all plain sail, have five square sails on each mast... In fine, settled weather.., additional fine weather sails..can be set.
plain saw v. Woodworking (transitive) to produce (a piece of timber) by sawing at an angle of less than 45° to the growth rings (chiefly in passive).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > build or construct with wood [verb (transitive)] > saw > in specific manner or with specific saw
rip1532
whip-saw1842
buck1870
jigsaw1873
ripsaw1881
mill1886
saw-kerf1886
quarter-saw1890
buzz1925
plain saw1951
1951 A. E. Bridgwood Carpentry & Joinery (Intermediate) iii. 151 If figured boards are required, they should be plain sawn... Floor joists are stronger if plain sawn.
plain-sawed adj. Woodworking = plain-sawn adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [adjective] > cut or sawn > cut or sawn in specific manner
quarter cleft1666
listed1842
through-and-through-sawn1870
half-timber1874
rotary-cut1877
quarter-sawn1878
mill-run1881
flat-sawn1882
plain-sawed1888
plain-sawn1895
rift-sawn1895
radial sawn1958
radial sawed1972
1888 Newark (Ohio) Daily Advocate 13 Nov. Plain sawed oak, worth at the present time in the New York market $37 a thousand feet at wholesale.
1931 J. E. Younger Airplane Constr. & Repair vi. 98 The advantages of plain-sawed lumber [over quarter-sawed] are: 1. It is cheaper to cut. 2. If knots are present, they are round instead of spiked.
2002 Houston Chron. (Nexis) 12 May 10 The darker rings or V-shaped patterns resulting from plain-sawed or straight-sawed wood.
plain sawing n. Woodworking the method or action of producing boards, etc., by sawing at an angle of less than 45° to the growth rings.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > [noun] > sawing or cutting > specific
ripsawing1842
through-and-through sawing1876
rift sawing1881
quarter sawing1883
whip-sawing1885
sawmilling1901
plain sawing1931
1931 J. E. Younger Airplane Constr. & Repair vi. 98 There are two principal methods of sawing up trees into lumber; plain sawing and quarter-sawing. The former produces flat-grain lumber and the latter edge-grain lumber.
1994 Harrowsmith Apr. 53/1 Most standard square-edged lumber is produced by a technique called plainsawing... The sawyer starts by cutting slabs, or flitches, from the log's smoothest side until knots or other defects come into view.
plain-sawn adj. Woodworking produced by plain sawing.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [adjective] > cut or sawn > cut or sawn in specific manner
quarter cleft1666
listed1842
through-and-through-sawn1870
half-timber1874
rotary-cut1877
quarter-sawn1878
mill-run1881
flat-sawn1882
plain-sawed1888
plain-sawn1895
rift-sawn1895
radial sawn1958
radial sawed1972
1895 Times 24 Aug. 1/4 Barrels..from plain-sawn staves.
1961 N. P. Johnson in A. E. Bridgwood Newnes Carpentry & Joinery I. iv. 193 If figured boards are required, they should be tangential sawn... They will, however, be liable to the shrinkage and warping associated with plain-sawn timber.
2002 Better Homes & Gardens: Wood June 34/3 A plainsawn board will move about twice as much as a quartersawn board of the same species.
plain scale n. now historical = plane scale n. at plane adj. Compounds 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical instruments > [noun] > trigonometrical instruments
scale of equal parts1630
plain scale1659
plane scale1709
trigonometer1767
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > navigational aids > [noun] > ruler used in calculations
plain scale1659
plane scale1709
1659 J. Collins (title) Navigation by the mariners plain scale new plain'd.
1701 T. Tuttell Descr. Math. Instruments in J. Moxon Math. made Easie (ed. 3) 15 Plain Scale, made of box, a foot long, with a double Diagonal Scale, Sines, Tangents, Secants, Chords, Rhombs, Leagues, Longitudes and Equal parts: used by Seamen to solve their questions in Plain Sailing and to save their Gunter.
1863 Sci. Amer. 3 Oct. 223/1 A Box of Instruments, Practical Geometry, Definitions, Compasses, Parallel Ruler, Protractor, Plain Scale.
1963 R. Middlekauff Ancients & Axioms i. vi. 97 Captain George MacKay of Boston taught geometry and trigonometry along with the use of the plainscale, the Gunter, the sliding Gunter, and Sector—all instruments used by navigators.
plain service n. Christian Church a service which follows the most basic liturgy, frequently without any singing or other music.
ΚΠ
1852 S. S. Cox Buckeye Abroad xxvi. 410 We simple-worshipping Puritans can only hope that..we may never be ashamed of our plain service and plain meeting-houses.
1998 K. T. Hoppen Mid-Victorian Generation 433 The Evangelical or Low Church party stressed biblical literalism, friendship with Dissenters, conversion experiences, and plain services.
plain sewing n. (a) Needlework needlework which is functional or practical rather than decorative; (b) slang [popularized by W. H. Auden (compare quot. 1980)] , a sexual activity of homosexuals involving mutual masturbation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > [noun] > sewing > plain sewing
plain worka1450
plain sewing1836
white sewing1922
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > homosexual sexual activity > specific
cottaging1960
tribadism1962
plain sewing1969
bug chasing1999
scissoring2003
tribbing2003
1836 C. M. Sedgwick Poor Rich Man & Rich Poor Man ix. 83 Agnes was a diligent and good girl, and had been well taught plain sewing in a public school.
1853 E. C. Gaskell Cranford iii. 47 I always took a quantity of plain sewing to Cranford; for, as we did not read much, or walk much, I found it a capital time to get through my work.
1932 ‘R. Scully’ Scarlet Pansy xl. 347 One comes to believe almost anything [is] possible, especially after seeing the two Frenchmen osculate each other. Honest-to-Gawd, dearie, the way they kiss is just nobody's business. Your Aunt Mary [sc. a homosexual man] is too busy these days to do aught but plain sewing.
1941 F. Thompson Over to Candleford ix. 137 Plain sewing was still looked upon as an important part of a girl's education.
1969 W. H. Auden in N.Y. Rev. Bks. 27 Mar. 3/4 I conclude he [sc. J. R. Ackerley] did not belong to either of the two commonest classes of homosexuals, neither to the ‘orals’..nor to the ‘anals’... My guess is that at the back of his mind, lay a daydream of an innocent Eden where children play ‘Doctor’, so that the acts he really preferred were the most ‘brotherly’, Plain-Sewing and Princeton-First-Year.
1980 D. Attridge in Times Lit. Suppl. 18 Apr. 441/1 Auden..once boasted to me..of his having been the first to use ‘Plain-Sewing’ in print, and explained it as a sailor's term for mutual masturbation.
1994 T. May Victorian Schoolroom 17 (caption) The ability to do plain sewing was as useful to the future domestic servant as it was to the future labourer's wife.
plain sight n. a non-telescopic sight; (also) a simple backsight on a firearm.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > parts and fittings of firearms > [noun] > sight > types of
dispart1578
telescopic sight1674
plain sight1686
aim-frontlet1745
hausse1787
foresight1806
gloaming sight1817
night-sight1822
bead1831
leaf1832
backsight1847
globe sight1847
pendulum hausse1850
hindsight1851
tangent scale1859
tangent1861
tangent backsight1862
training pendulum1862
training level1863
peep sight1866
dispart-sight1867
notch sight1867
buck-horn1877
orthoptic1881
aperturea1884
pinball-sighta1884
dispart patch1884
sight bar1884
flap-sight1887
barley-corn1896
ring sight1901
riflescope1902
spotting scope1904
tangent sight1908
Aldis sight1918
wind-sight1923
scope sight1934
gyro-sight1942
1686 Philos. Trans. 1685 (Royal Soc.) 15 1164 Some from the Royal Society at London (acquainted with..Telescopick Sights,) might come..to Dantsick, to view the manner of His observing, (by plain sights, and the naked Ey).
1734 Philos. Trans. 1733–4 (Royal Soc.) 38 169 The Index may be furnished either with plain Sights, or may carry a short Telescope, with a Vane in it Focus, to receive the Image of the Sun, when it is bright enough.
a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 686/2 Plain Sight (Fire-arms), a hind sight consisting of a simple notch in a raised plate or protuberance.
1999 Sphaera No. 9. 3/3 The planchette could be fitted either with a telescope or simply with an alidade with plain sights.
† plain singing n. Obsolete = plainsong n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > church music > plainchant > [noun]
Ambrosiana1225
plainsong1445
plain singing1537
Gregorian chant1653
plainchant1740
Gregoriana1873
vesper music1888
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > religious or devotional > [noun] > chanted > plainchant
plainsong1445
plain singing1537
Gregorian chant1653
plainchant1740
canto fermo1789
Gregoriana1873
vesper music1888
1537 in C. Innes Registrum Episcopatus Aberdonensis (1845) I. 413 Sex bernis..sall syng the said anteme..in plaine singynge one ilk feriall day.
1795 W. Mason Ess. Eng. Church Music iii. 164 It therefore could only be called plain singing or chaunting, which, perhaps, is the best translation of the term planus cantus.
1892 Catholic World Oct. 105 He was quite efficient in teaching plain singing and chanting.
plain text n. (a) (frequently as one word) text, not in cipher or code, to which an encrypted message corresponds; uncoded language; (b) Computing text composed of unformatted characters with no structural information such as font or layout, making it easy to edit or transmit; now often contrasted with rich text n. at rich adj., n., and adv. Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > code, cipher > [noun] > unencoded language
plain text1918
plain language1929
1918 F. Strother Fighting Germany's Spies vii. 144 Now..the plain text of the secret message is printed on the under sheet by writing through the perforations of the upper sheet, only one letter being written in each square.
1967 D. Kahn Codebreakers (1968) xiv. 435 The cryptanalysts of the German Foreign Office..had reduced it to plaintext at once.
1985 Duvall/Consulair/MacAdvantage editor in fa.info-mac (Usenet newsgroup) 8 Jan. It seems that Apple really doesn't want you to have plain text files.
1992 Lit. & Ling. Computing 7 9/2 In the case of sources which need to be converted from printed form, mark-up will have to be introduced. This could be carried out..as a post-editing operation once the plain text has been captured.
1995 Internet World Feb. 36/1 The input to the encryption algorithm is the text to be encrypted—known as plaintext—and a key.
2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 23 Sept. e4/5 You can use this command to export a list of songs into several formats, including plain text, Unicode and XML.
plain tripe n. the first stomach or rumen of a ruminant, esp. as an article of food.
ΚΠ
1891 Cent. Dict. at Tripe Tripe includes the whole..of the two compartments known as the rumen, or paunch, and the reticulum. The former (called plain tripe) is the most extensive.
1979 N. Farah Sweet & Sour Milk xiii. 219 Four more goats had been brought and slaughtered. Loyaan could tell that from..the plain and honeycomb tripe being washed and cleaned.
1997 Harvard Jrnl. Educ. Stud. 57 75 At dawn appear sheeps' heads, entrails, liver, kidney and sweetbreads, udders, and plain and honeycombed tripe.
plain-vanilla adj. figurative (originally U.S.) having no special or additional features; basic, ordinary; cf. vanilla n. Additions.
ΚΠ
1959 Washington Post 13 July a19/2 After Cococabana [sic], Bethany Beach will always look slightly plain vanilla to me.
1975 Forbes (Nexis) 1 Oct. 72 E-Systems also does aircraft maintenance and overhaul—from what Dixon calls ‘plain-vanilla repair work’ to keeping the Presidential air fleet working.
2000 Esquire May 54/1 A sensible mix of stocks, bonds, and money-market mutual funds, the most plain-vanilla kind of investment strategy.
plain-weave n. Textiles the most basic weaving method, in which each thread passes alternately over and under the threads at right angles to itself (frequently attributive); a fabric woven by this method.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > weaving > other methods of weaving
cross-weaving1843
Swedish work1882
satin weave1884
plain-weave1888
swivel-weaving1894
swivel-weft1894
mat1904
tabby weave1906
tablet weaving1921
basket weave1925
ikat1931
folk weave1938
pebble weave1941
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [adjective] > weaving > types of
high warp1728
plain-weave1888
waffle1930
folk weave1938
leno1964
1888 R. Beaumont Woollen & Worsted Cloth Manuf. x. 279 It may..be useful to consider how, from a plain weave warped and woven one thread black and one thread white, the solid lines of these colours..have been formed.
1906 H. Nisbet Gram. Textile Design ii. 6 Notwithstanding the very simple character of the plain weave, it is produced in a great variety of forms.
1990 Orientations Apr. 44/2–3 Both sides of the central column are bordered with fine silver-foil-covered leather and plain-weave red silk.
plain weaving n. Textiles = plain-weave n.; also occasionally in Basket-making.
ΚΠ
1831 Times 30 Nov. 4/3 50 cast-iron engine and plain weaving looms.
1848 Sci. Amer. 15 Jan. 131/2 Plain weaving, is just the intersecting or crossing a number of horizontal threads by others, each succeeding crossing thread passing over one horizontal thread, (warp) and under the other across the web.
1984 J. Seymour Forgotten Arts (1985) 159/1 He then started what he called slewing. This was ordinary plain weaving, but with five or six withies all together and parallel. It was obviously a very quick method of filling in space.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

plainv.

Brit. /pleɪn/, U.S. /pleɪn/, Scottish English /plen/
Forms:

α. early Middle English playni (south-eastern), early Middle English pleaini (south-west midlands), early Middle English pleni (south-eastern), Middle English plany (west midlands), Middle English pleigne (see note below), Middle English pleny; Scottish pre-1700 plainȝe, pre-1700 plainȝie, pre-1700 planȝe, pre-1700 planȝie, pre-1700 planyhe, pre-1700 pleigin, pre-1700 pleigne, pre-1700 pleinȝe, pre-1700 pleingȝe, pre-1700 pleinȝhe, pre-1700 pleinȝie, pre-1700 pleingyhe, pre-1700 pleinye, pre-1700 pleneȝe, pre-1700 plenȝe, pre-1700 plenȝei, pre-1700 plengȝe, pre-1700 plenȝhe, pre-1700 plenȝie, pre-1700 plenneit (past tense), pre-1700 plennit (past tense), pre-1700 plenye, pre-1700 plenyhe, pre-1700 plenyie, pre-1700 pleyhne, pre-1700 pleynȝe, pre-1700 pleynȝhe, pre-1700 pleynye, 1700s plenzie, 1900s– plenyie.

β. Middle English plande (past tense), Middle English playnliyth (3rd singular present indicative, transmission error), Middle English plene, Middle English pleyn, Middle English pleyne, Middle English–1500s plane, Middle English–1500s playn, Middle English–1500s pleine, Middle English–1600s plaine, Middle English–1600s playne, 1500s plean, 1600s– plain, 1700s–1800s 'plain; English regional (chiefly northern) 1700s–1800s plean, 1700s– pleean, 1800s pleyan, 1800s– plaan, 1800s– pleen, 1800s– pleyn; Scottish pre-1700 plaine, pre-1700 plane, pre-1700 playn, pre-1700 playne, pre-1700 pleane, pre-1700 plein, pre-1700 pleine, pre-1700 pleyn, pre-1700 pleyne, pre-1700 1700s plean, pre-1700 1700s plene, pre-1700 1700s– plain, pre-1700 1700s– pleen.

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymons: French plainer, plaindre, plaign-, pleign-.
Etymology: < Anglo-Norman plainer, pleiner, variant of Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French plaindre, pleindre (French plaindre ) and < their stem plaign-, pleign-, plagn-, plaingn-, plangn-, plaing-, pleing- to mourn (c1050), to express grief, lament (c1100), (reflexive) to bring a complaint to court (1243) < classical Latin plangere to beat the breast, lament (see plangent adj.). Compare Occitan planher (a1148; Occitan plànger, plànher, planhir), Catalan plànyer (c1200), Spanish †plañer (c1200), †llañer (1260), plañir (c1430), Italian piangere (a1250).The α. and β. forms chiefly reflect stem variation in Anglo-Norman and Old French. However, the α. forms, as well as reflecting the original palatal nasal (the reflex of which is still preserved in regional Scots), further reflect the usual assignment of French loans in southern and western dialects of (chiefly early) Middle English to the reflex of the Old English weak Class II conjugation; forms from these two different origins are not always easy to distinguish. The form pleigne in the Fairfax manuscript of Gower's Confessio Amantis (alongside pleine ) apparently shows no more than the influence of French spelling (compare the rhyme in quot. a1393 at sense 1b). In Middle English prefixed and unprefixed forms of the past participle are attested (see y- prefix).
Now archaic, English regional (northern), and Scottish.
1.
†a. transitive (reflexive). To complain; esp. to make a formal complaint of a grievance to a competent authority. Cf. complain v. 8a. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > displeasure > discontent or dissatisfaction > state of complaining > complain [verb (reflexive)]
plainc1230
complain1393
α.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 134 Of na mon ne of na wummon ne schule ȝe makie na man. ne pleainin ow of na wone.
c1330 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Auch.) (1952) 130 And seyd Y pleni me lordinges To ȝou of Alisaunder þe king.
c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 153 I suld plenȝe me till his juge, and ask rycht, and law of him.
a1500 (c1410) Dives & Pauper (Hunterian) (1976) i. 228 (MED) Crist plenyyth hym of swyche folc to hys fadir in heuene.
c1580 ( tr. Bk. Alexander (1929) IV. ii. 8848 Lordingis, seruandis, till ȝow I sa Of him ȝone man plenȝe I me.
β. c1300 St. Thomas Apostle (Laud) 333 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 386 (MED) He playnede him to þe kingue.c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 504 (MED) He ne dorste him naȝt pleine.a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 4938 (MED) Þese wymmen come to syre Ely And pleyned hem of grete vyleynye.c1400 Life St. Anne (Minn.) (1928) 1844 (MED) Þus pleynde he hym & toke witnes fast Þat raysed no debate.?c1450 (?a1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 388 Þai hadden no more nede to plene hem of þis ordenaunce þan hadden þe oþer two statis of his chirche.1592 T. Kyd Spanish Trag. iii. sig. F4v I will goe plaine me to my Lord the King.a1593 C. Marlowe Edward II (1594) sig. I2v To plaine me to the gods against them both.1814 H. Weber in Illustr. Northern Antiq. 76 Of their woe and sad mischance, there to God they plain'd them.1842 E. S. Wortley Maiden of Moscow xiv. 547 They 'plained them, of the officious part He played—their rightful course to thwart.
b. intransitive. To express feelings of ill usage, dissatisfaction, or discontent; to grumble. Frequently with against, of, about, on, upon. In later use archaic and English regional (northern). Cf. complain v. 6.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > work with tools or equipment [verb (transitive)] > filing, polishing, or smoothing tool
planea1398
pumicea1425
roll?1523
plain1535
pounce1580
file1616
smooth-file1683
plane1726
sandpaper1846
pumice-stone1851
paper1875
lap1881
sand1928
a1325 St. Anastasia (Corpus Cambr.) 53 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 587 (MED) Þo he come fram þe emperor to plaine ope ȝam þere.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 765 (MED) Leir..plainede of þe unkundhede of is doȝter gornorille.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 323 (MED) Þe firste kyng William playnede somtyme of his broþer þat he wolde forsake hym.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 1005 The thridde day sche goth to pleigne With many a worthi Citezeine.
1412 in J. Anderson Cal. Laing Charters (1899) 24 The forsaide lorde..sal abide the prouincialis cumyng, and sal pleinȝhe til him.
?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. ii. pr. iv. 82 What man is so sad or of so parfit welefulnesse that he ne stryveth or pleyneth [L. rixetur] on som halve ayen the qualite of his estat?
a1475 in A. Clark Eng. Reg. Godstow Nunnery (1905) i. 170 (MED) Amyfelyse, abbas of Godestowe, playnynge by reynolde porter, I-sette in her stede to gete or to lese, & william Nefmeynil, deforcynge.
a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) viii. 22 Than þe soule shall pleyne vpon þe flesh.
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 618 Suppois he had bot litill caus to plenȝe.
1612 T. Dekker If it be not Good iii. iii. 104 This Reuerend sub-Prior, Who plaines against disorders of this House.
1724 in Ramsay's Tea-t. Misc. (1733) II. 119 Why dost thou pleen? I thee maintain, For meal and mawt thou disna want.
1793 T. Scott Poems 326 Quo' Robin, Sirs, how last ye baith? Quo' Sim, I darna plean o' skaith.
1797 S. T. Coleridge Sonnet to Simplicity 211 Now of my false friend plaining plaintively, Now raving at mankind in general.
1832 A. Cunningham Maid of Elvar x. xxxix. 174 Low and dolorously He plained of cold and hunger.
1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby Plain, to complain.
1888 J. Ingelow Poems II. 273 He called For his lost kingdom, and bewailed his age, And plained on his unkind daughters.
1928 A. E. Pease Dict. Dial. N. Riding Yorks. 96/2 She hez nowt ti plāȃn aboot.
c. transitive. To complain of; to put forward as a complaint. Also with infinitive or clause as object. Cf. complain v. 7. English regional (northern) in later use.In quot. c1400, to express (an entreaty).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > displeasure > discontent or dissatisfaction > state of complaining > complain about [verb (transitive)]
plainc1400
muse1402
plaintc1425
grudgec1450
complain1509
murmell1546
to cry out of1548
repine1577
complain1584
remonstrate1625
churl1627
bemurmur1837
holler1936
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xvii. 292 (MED) Leue I neure that owre lorde wil loue þat charite lakketh, Ne haue pite for any preyere þere þat he pleyneth.
c1430 (c1395) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women Prol. 326 Al ne is nat gospel that is to yow pleyned; The god of Love hereth many a tale yfeyned.
a1475 in A. Clark Eng. Reg. Godstow Nunnery (1906) ii. 471 (MED) I have a right cause or mater to playne.
a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 114 (MED) The seeke man reioyseth..whanne he haþe onely pleyned his greef to the leche.
1567 R. Sempill Deeclaratioun Lordis Iust Quarrell (single sheet) Pleinȝeand that sho was rauyssit by [= against] hir will.
a1600 (?c1535) tr. H. Boece Hist. Scotl. (Mar Lodge) (1946) i. v. f. 43 Ambassiatouris..pleneȝeing hevilie the tresoun..of Pichtis.
1600 S. Nicholson Acolastus his After-witte l. 1285 Our Fathers plained in their weary daies, How much the world was chang'd from that of yore.
1628 G. Wither Britain's Remembrancer vi. 193 They..plained, To see themselves so sleighted, and disdained Of their superiors.
1855 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Yorks. Words 131 They are always plaining poverty.
1905 ‘M. Field’ Borgia iii. iv. 84 Pish! You shall have the wages. But last evening You plained you needed more artillery.
1928 A. E. Pease Dict. Dial. N. Riding Yorks. 96/2 He pleeans poverty.
d. intransitive. English regional (northern). To tell tales, inform on or against a person.
ΚΠ
1781 J. Hutton Tour to Caves (ed. 2) Gloss. 94/1 Plean, to tell tales against a person.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Plean, to tell tales.
1892 M. C. F. Morris Yorks. Folk-talk 354 He gans tiv his maasther ti pleean on him.
2.
a. intransitive. To give expression to sorrow, grief, etc.; to complain of a (source of) grief or sorrow; to weep, lament. Cf. complain v. 3a. Now rare (archaic and poetic in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > lament or express grief [verb (intransitive)]
sorroweOE
meaneOE
careOE
mournOE
ofthink?c1225
to make sorrow?c1250
to make languorc1300
bemoanc1305
plainc1325
moanc1330
wailc1330
waymentc1350
complainc1374
to make syte?a1400
sweam14..
lamentc1515
bemournc1540
regratec1550
to sing sol-fa, sorrow, woe1573
condole1598
passion1598
deplore1632
ochone1829
rune1832
the mind > emotion > suffering > displeasure > discontent or dissatisfaction > state of complaining > complain [verb (intransitive)]
murkeOE
misspeakOE
yomer971
chidea1000
murkenOE
grutch?c1225
mean?a1300
hum13..
plainta1325
gruntc1325
plainc1325
musea1382
murmurc1390
complain1393
contrary1393
flitec1400
pinea1425
grummec1430
aggrudge1440
hoinec1440
mutterc1450
grudge1461
channerc1480
grunch1487
repine1529
storm?1553
expostulate1561
grumblea1586
gruntle1591
chunter1599
swagger1599
maunder1622
orp1634
objurgate1642
pitter1672
yelp1706
yammer1794
natter1804
murgeon1808
groan1816
squawk1875
jower1879
grouse1887
beef1888
to whip the cat1892
holler1904
yip1907
peeve1912
grouch1916
nark1916
to sound off1918
create1919
moana1922
crib1925
tick1925
bitch1930
gripe1932
bind1942
drip1942
kvetchc1950
to rag on1979
wrinch2011
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 3576 Mest in is herte was uor anguysse to playne.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) iv. 215 Thus plenȝeit [1489 Adv. pleynȝeit] he off his folye.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 679 Quhen Wallace hard hyr plenȝe petously.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 3471 Playnond with pytie..With sykyng & sorow [Cassandra] said on this wise.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. v. sig. R4 Though he plaine, he doth not complaine: for it is a harme, but no wrong, which he hath receiued.
1613 W. Browne Britannia's Pastorals I. i. 15 Shee loues not him that plaineth, but that pleaseth.
?c1625 in E. Beveridge & J. D. Westwood Fergusson's Sc. Prov. (1924) No. 537 He pleinyes [Carmichael plenyeis] airly quho pleins [Carmichael plenyeis] on his kail.
1710 A. Philips Pastorals ii. 13 Small Cause, I ween, has lusty Youth to plain.
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre III. ii. 52 A sad heart..plained of its gaping wounds, its inward bleeding, its riven chords.
1865 J. R. Lowell L'Envoi in Poet. Wks. (1879) 457 The Muse is womanish, nor deigns Her love to him that pules and plains.
1919 E. Pound Quia Pauper Amavi 7 I hear the bird in flight That plaineth of the going of the night.
†b. transitive (reflexive). To lament, utter lamentations; to bewail oneself. Cf. complain v. 2. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > lament or express grief [verb (reflexive)]
meana1225
plainc1330
complainc1385
waymentc1450
condole1592
lament1749
c1330 Seven Sages (Auch.) (1933) 699 (MED) He..pleined him of his mochel wo.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 10488 Scho plande hir eft on þis manere: Ofte scho said, ‘allas! allas! þat euer i born or geten was’.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 2540 (MED) Saint Bernard pleyned him here Of his lyf.
c1480 (a1400) St. Theodora 470 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 112 Þu plenȝeis þe for-outyne skil.
c1500 (?a1437) Kingis Quair (1939) xl I sawe..new cummyn hir to pleyne,..the freschest yong floure.
c1550 R. Bieston Bayte Fortune B iij To plaine hym nought auayleth.
1633 P. Fletcher Purple Island xii. lxxiv. 177 Thus with glad sorrow did she sweetly plain her.
1710 A. Philips Pastorals i. 8 A Shepherd Boy..Thus plain'd him of his dreary Discontent.
c. transitive. To express grief on account of or for (a person or thing); to bewail, deplore, or lament (the cause of sorrow, or the sorrow or pain itself). Cf. complain v. 1. Now rare (archaic and poetic in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > lament or express grief for [verb (transitive)]
sorroweOE
meaneOE
bemournOE
mournOE
bemoanc1000
ofthink?c1225
bequeatha1325
moana1325
plain1340
wail1362
bewailc1374
complainc1374
waymenta1400
grievec1400
sorrowa1425
regratec1480
lament1535
deplore1567
dole1567
condole1607
pine1667
rave1810
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 132 (MED) Þer byeþ zome þet wel conne hyre defautes..ac naȝt hit ne ueleþ; Þerfore is þe oþer stape: yuele and playni his defautes.
c1350 Apocalypse St. John: A Version (Harl. 874) (1961) 153 (MED) Þai..pleynen þe Cite þat was so gret & strong..& her synnes þai shullen pleynen litel oiþer nouȝth.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 222 (MED) Sir Guy Baliol died þore..He was pleyned more þan oþer tuenty.
1451–1500 (c1400) Vision of Tundale 582 (MED) He se one stonde on þe brigge..And playned his synne ful petously.
a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 49 (MED) From hensforthe thou maist pleyne [v.r. pleyne lesse] the shame and vexacion of the clergie.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 164 Thai haif moir caus to weip and plane thair sorrow.
1595 E. Spenser Astrophel in Colin Clouts come Home Againe sig. E4 Shepheards that wont..Oft times to plaine your loues concealed smart.
1600 E. Fairfax tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne vi. lix. 105 This princesse..Whose losse too soone the wofull damsell plained.
1617 W. Becher in W. Camden Epist. (1691) 207 I did many times plain my ill hap.
1760 R. Griffith & E. Griffith Lett. Henry & Frances (ed. 2) I. clxvi. 349 I only..plain the Misfortune of not having made the first Impression on your Heart.
1843 E. Jones Stud. Sensation & Event 135 Every love-plaint uninvitedly plained, Fouls; yea, woman's purity is arraigned, When man thrusts towards her love display, love claim, She prompts not.
1884 H. B. Mackey tr. St. Francis de Sales Treat. Love of God (ed. 6) vi. i. 234 Either in life wooing him or after his death plaining him.
1894 J. Davidson Unhist. Pastoral iv. i. 46 Plaining anew love's endless tale.
1991 Times Lit. Suppl. 16 Aug. 4/1 Wyatt, at first sight merely the Petrarchan lutenist plaining his sorrows, thinks through his poetry.
3.
a. intransitive. figurative. To make a plaintive or mournful sound; = complain v. 9. Now rare and poetic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > mournful or plaintive sound > mournful or plaintive [verb (intransitive)]
knella1400
plaina1425
mourna1522
groan1602
complain1694
moan1805
dirge1907
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > cry of grief > cry with grief [verb (intransitive)] > cry feebly or plaintively
whingea1150
whinec1275
plaina1425
fipple?1507
whimper1513
mewla1530
pulea1535
whimp1549
whewla1560
simper1613
whindle1709
grizzle1842
squinny1847
wimick1850
mizzlea1935
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) iii. 1433 Wel oughten bestes pleyne, and folk the [sc. night] chide, That there as day wyth labour wolde us breste, That thow thus fleest and deynest us nought reste.
c1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Vesp. B.xii) (1904) 29 (MED) For no strooke ne for wounde þat men doon to hym, be [read he] playnneth nat ne crieþ not.
1616 W. Drummond Poems (rev. ed.) sig. Q3 Come with your dolefull Songs, Nights sable Birds, which plaine when others sleepe.
1625 F. Bacon Transl. Psalms civ. 10 In which the Birds doe build, and sit, and sing; Stroking the gentle Ayre with pleasant notes, Plaining or Chirping through their warbling throtes.
1783 ‘P. Pindar’ More Lyric Odes to Royal Academicians iii. 11 Nature plaineth sore.
a1835 W. Motherwell Madman's Love in Poems (1847) 47 With selfsame voice the old woods playne, When shrilly winds do blow.
1849 C. Brontë Shirley II. i. 25 Shirley sat..listening to certain notes of the gale that plained like restless spirits.
1884 M. Linskill in Good Words 15 The wind went on wuthering wildly, sobbing, raging, plaining over the barren moor.
1920 C. M. Doughty Mansoul iii. 61 Fowls plained, mongst the green boughs, Shrill chiding in their several kinds.
†b. intransitive. Of a horse: to whinny. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > sound made by horse > [verb (intransitive)] > whinny
whinec1330
hinnyc1400
plainc1450
whinny1530
neicherc1550
whicker1753
c1450 (c1375) G. Chaucer Anelida & Arcite 157 Ryght as an hors, that can both bite and pleyne [v.r. whyne].
†c. intransitive. Perhaps: to falter, hesitate. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Duner, to plaine, as a horse, that neither halteth outright, nor setteth his foot hard on the ground.
d. transitive. With direct speech as object: to utter whiningly or querulously. Now rare and poetic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > displeasure > discontent or dissatisfaction > state of complaining > complain about [verb (transitive)] > utter complainingly
grumble1824
plain1865
yammer1892
peeve1912
1865 E. C. Gaskell Cousin Phillis iii. 94 ‘Oh, Rover, don't you leave me, too,’ she plained out.
1901 ‘G. Douglas’ House with Green Shutters 296 ‘It would be the wind’, plained her mother.
1917 T. Hardy Moments of Vision & Misc. Verses 204 ‘Better,’ I plained, ‘She were dead as before! The memory of her Had lived in me; but it cannot now!’
a1924 M. Ghose Coll. Poems (1970) 276 Thus with sighs I plained: ‘Power that madest man Let me with thee plead.’
4. intransitive. English regional (northern). To show signs of physical suffering or pain; to let it be known that one is suffering or in pain. Cf. complain v. 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > suffer pain [verb (transitive)] > express pain
to complain of1792
plain1863
1863 Mrs. Toogood Specim. Yorks. Dial. (MS) He seemed verra ill, he pleaned a good deal.
1898 B. Kirkby Lakeland Words 115 She pleens a gay deal aboot her heed.
1928 A. E. Pease Dict. Dial. N. Riding Yorks. 96/2 Put this hand on his back, yon's spot wheer he plains.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

plainadv.1

Brit. /pleɪn/, U.S. /pleɪn/
Forms: see plain adj.2
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: plain adj.2
Etymology: < plain adj.2Sometimes confused with plain adv.2, to which some senses may perhaps belong (compare senses 5, 6).
1. In a manner clear to the mind or senses; manifestly, obviously; clearly, distinctly.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > manifestation > manifestness > openness or unconcealedness > [adverb]
barelyc950
beforeOE
openlyOE
nakedly?c1225
in a person's bearda1250
opelyc1275
apertly1297
commonlya1325
opena1325
overtlyc1325
pertlya1375
plainc1380
in (also on) opena1382
in apertc1384
plainlyc1390
in open (also general) audiencea1393
aperta1400
in commonaltya1400
outa1400
without laina1400
in commonc1400
publishlyc1400
pertc1410
in publicc1429
on higha1450
in pert1453
to a person's facea1470
into heightc1480
forthward?1504
but hidel?1507
publicly1534
uncolouredly1561
roundly1563
famously1570
vulgarly1602
above board1603
round1604
displayedly1611
on (also upon) the square?1611
undisguisedly1611
broadly1624
discoveredly1659
unveiledly1661
under a person's nose1670
manifestly1711
before faces1762
publically1797
overboard1834
unashamedly1905
upfront1972
society > communication > manifestation > manifestness > [adverb]
couthlyc900
sutelichec900
openlyOE
witterlyc1175
kithlya1300
witnessfullyc1374
evidentlya1382
plainlya1382
graithc1394
eberlya1400
express14..
manifest1431
patently1441
manifestlyc1475
evident?1520
grossly1526
apparently1533
clear1550
apparent1565
clearly1569
notoriously1589
plain1590
perspicuously1592
perspectively1598
transparently1617
liquidlya1631
visibly1631
obviously1638
fairly1655
perspiculously1661
remarkably1666
squarely1860
c1380 G. Chaucer Second Nun's Tale 284 Tho shewed hym Cecile al open and pleyn That alle ydoles nys but a thyng in veyn.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 11230 (MED) Right als..þe sun beme Gais thoru þe glas..Wit-vten brest, right sua al plain..he [sc. Jesus] com and yede, Saufand his moder hir maidenhede.
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Merlin (1904) I. l. 266 (MED) We nete Neuere..but ȝif that god vs hate, ful pleyn, and this torment Suffreth vs to haue.
a1500 Partenay (Trin. Cambr.) 2994 (MED) Sore uilloined gan hym hold certain, When a soule man lust with hym were plain.
1543 ( Chron. J. Hardyng (1812) 92 (MED) Within iiii wekes was all this done full playn.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. i. sig. A5 Ay wont in desert darknes to remaine, Where plain none might her see, nor she see any plaine.
1602 J. Brereton Briefe Relation Discouerie Virginia 11 They pronounce our language with great facilitie; for one of them one day sitting by me, vpon occasion I spake smiling to him..which words (without any further repetition) he suddenly spake so plaine and distinctly, as if he had been a long scholar in the language.
1610 Bible (Douay) II. Isa. xxxii And the heart of fools shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of stammerers shall speak readily and plain.
1784 New Spectator No. 22. 3 Did not Torquato Tasso speak plain at six months old?
1798 S. T. Coleridge Poems But while she look'd and listen'd, stood and ran, And saw him plain in every distant man.
1841 M. R. Mitford in A. G. L'Estrange Life M. R. Mitford (1870) III. viii. 130 The part plainest to be seen was the figure as it rose and sank above the paling.
1884 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn xix We could hear them talking and cussing and laughing—heard them plain.
1913 J. Conrad Chance i. i. 15 He could read Charles Powell written very plain on the parchment.
1935 W. Faulkner Pylon 160 He extended the key, feeling his jaw plainer and plainer through his face's grimace.
1988 M. S. Bell Customs of Country in M. Atwood Best Amer. Stories 1989 (1989) 15 The place was soundproof enough I couldn't usually hear talk but I could hear yelling plain as day.
2. Simply, uncomplicatedly; merely; clearly; without ostentation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adverb] > in specific way
to (also into, unto) one's (also the) shirtc1300
in or of (a) suitc1325
in ragsa1350
in (also on) one's shirtc1380
in suit of or with1389
thinlya1400
in suit with1488
finely?1552
raggedly1552
smoothly1579
garish1590
briskly1592
in one's waistcoat1607
in mourning1621
in cuerpoa1640
in gala1757
airily1768
plain1808
in mufti1816
in, on one's stocking-soles1827
seedily1837
in beaver1840
back to front1869
dowdily1887
dossily1903
head-to-toe1946
sharp1951
sharply1965
understatedly1972
c1380 G. Chaucer Second Nun's Tale 360 But at the laste, to tellen short and pleyn, The sergeantz of the toun of Rome hem soghte.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. 1594 (MED) He schal pronounce His tale plein withoute frounce.
c1560 A. Scott Poems (1896) iv. 78 Or scho war kissit plane, Scho leir be japit thryiss.
1798 T. Jones Memoirs (1951) 48 The grand-Dutchess dressed plain, in a black Cardinal.
1808 ‘P. Plymley’ Eighth, Ninth & Last Let. x. 42 He dresses plain, loves hunting and farming.
1895 T. Hardy Jude iii. ii She wore a murrey-coloured gown with a little lace collar. It was made quite plain, and hung about her slight figure with clinging gracefulness.
2004 San Francisco Chron. (Nexis) 4 Aug. b7 You never heard any foul language out of Jimmy. He dressed plain, like he was going into an accounting office.
3. With clarity of expression; without circumlocution or ambiguity, clearly, intelligibly; candidly, honestly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > clearness, lucidity > [adverb] > of speech
plaina1387
plainlya1398
simply?c1400
treatlyc1435
treatably1527
familiarly1534
loud and clear1871
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > plainness > [adverb] > straightforwardly or directly
platc1375
in short and plainc1386
plaina1387
platlyc1390
in (also at, on, unto) (a, the) plainc1395
roundc1405
homelya1413
directly1509
roundly1528
point-blank1598
in good set termsa1616
broadly1624
crudely1638
plain downa1640
plumply1726
plumpa1734
squably1737
straightforward1809
unvarnishedly1824
pine-blank1834
blankly1846
squarely1860
straight out1874
straightforwardly1906
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 129 As it is innermore pleyn i-write [?a1475 anon. tr. schal be expressede; L. planum erit].
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. 627 (MED) The science of Astronomie..Withoute which, to telle plein, Alle oþre science is in vein.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. 3701 (MED) Hir sorwes..Rehersed ben ful openly and wel..& wryte þer ful pleyn.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 869 I warne you playne, he that ys nat clene of hys synnes, he shall nat se the mysteryes of oure Lorde Jesu Cryste.
a1525 Talis Fyve Bestes l. 397, in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 139 Þis lyoun sentence gaf he plane No beist of reif suld in his court remane.
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 317 That I haue said, I sall hald, and that I tell the plane.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. iii. 270 Sir to tell you plaine, Ile finde a fayrer face not washt to day.
1607 S. Collins Serm. Paules-Crosse 13 If you will haue one speake plainer..than S. Paul heere doth.
1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) xx. 122 It was truly said; Optimi Consiliarij mortui; Books will speake plaine, when Counsellors Blanch.
1704 J. Swift Tale of Tub iii. 83 But Herodotus holding the very same Hieroglyph, speaks much plainer, and almost in terminis.
1762 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy VI. vii. 26 The corporal made his old bow, which generally spoke as plain as a bow could speak [etc.].
1816 J. Austen Emma II. iii. 36 Mr. Knightley..was expressing the next morning..his approbation of the whole; not so openly as he might have done had her father been out of the room, but speaking plain enough as to be very intelligible to Emma.
1850 J. H. Newman Lect. Diffic. Anglicans 318 Soon others began to speak plainer than he.
1887 W. Morris Odyssey i. 41 Through his end therefrom he wotted, and thereof we warned him plain.
1910 E. M. Forster Howards End viii. 61 Can a body speak plainer?
1992 N.Y. Times 23 June a21/1 Sister Souljah's presence was Mr. Jackson's own opportunity to tell rap racists off plain. He would have burnished his name. He blew it.
†4. In a flat, level, or even position; evenly. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > [adverb]
plaina1398
levelly1837
flatly1883
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 250v The rafteres beþ stronge and square and hewen playne.
a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) 4148 (MED) Lat vs..parte nat..from this toun Til it..Be first doune bete that no thyng be seyn, But al to-gyder with the erthe pleyn Be lowe leyde.
c1460 J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1911) i. 118 (MED) Grete castellys, tours maad of lym and stoon, Playn with the Erthe to grounde shal doun falle.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xl Yf the bowes woll nat lye playne in the hedge, than cutte it the more halfe asonder, and bynde it in to the hedge.
1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica sig. L6 What's the cause That they thus stagger in the plain-pav'd skie?
†5. Immediately, straightaway; directly, due. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > direction > [adverb] > straight or due
rightOE
rightlyOE
evenc1300
plata1450
plain1509
straight1512
directly1513
fulla1529
flat1531
due?1574
dead1800
slap1829
plunk1866
squarely1883
c1400 Life St. Anne (Minn.) (1928) 1407 (MED) He..bad þam go To trusse & all playn.
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Merlin (1904) I. l. 160 (MED) The pastour aspide that moreygne, and to his lord he wente, ful pleyne, and told hym of that aventure.
a1500 Partenay (Trin. Cambr.) 920 (MED) Many ladyes..Went to a company with the Countesse plain, Ech welcomyng hir after ther degre.
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1845) xxxvi. 191 So forthe we sayled right playne southwest.
1527 Prose Life St. Brandan (Percy Soc.) 38 They sayled playn eest, and than they sawe an ylonde.
c1540 A. Borde Bk. for to Lerne B ij b Better it is..that y wyndowes do open playne north, than playne south.
1683 in C. S. Romanes Sel. Rec. Regality of Melrose (1917) III. 9 John Uschar..houked ane seugh throw the loaning plaine doune allongs to the burne againe.
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 120 [The savages] were confin'd to a Neck of Land, surrounded with high Rocks behind them, and lying plain towards the Sea before them.
6. Absolutely, purely, entirely; unequivocally; downright. Now frequently modified by just. In recent use, originally U.S. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [adverb] > completely, quite, or absolutely
faira1325
quitec1330
full outa1382
straightly1395
absolutely?a1425
quitementa1450
rightc1450
twighta1500
cleara1522
plain1535
flat1577
sincerely1583
clever1664
cleverly1696
sublimely1722
square1862
quaite1864
fucking A1960
the world > relative properties > wholeness > state or quality of being simple, unmixed, or uncompounded > [adverb] > simply, only, or merely
butOE
onlya1325
alone?c1335
purelya1375
alonelya1400
nobbuta1400
simplya1400
plain1535
barely1577
merelyc1580
purea1616
singly1655
just1668
sommer1835
maara1931
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > utterly
allOE
allOE
outlyOE
thwert-outc1175
skerea1225
thoroughc1225
downrightc1275
purec1300
purelyc1300
faira1325
finelyc1330
quitec1330
quitelyc1330
utterlyc1374
outerlya1382
plainlya1382
straighta1387
allutterly1389
starkc1390
oultrelya1393
plata1393
barec1400
outrightc1400
incomparablyc1422
absolutely?a1425
simpliciter?a1425
staringa1425
quitementa1450
properlyc1450
directly1455
merec1475
incomparable1482
preciselyc1503
clean?1515
cleara1522
plain1535
merely1546
stark1553
perfectly1555
right-down1566
simply1574
flat1577
flatly1577
skire1581
plumb1588
dead?1589
rankly1590
stark1593
sheera1600
start1599
handsmooth1600
peremptory1601
sheerly1601
rank1602
utter1619
point-blank1624
proofa1625
peremptorily1626
downrightly1632
right-down1646
solid1651
clever1664
just1668
hollow1671
entirely1673
blank1677
even down1677
cleverly1696
uncomparatively1702
subtly1733
point1762
cussed1779
regularly1789
unqualifiedly1789
irredeemably1790
positively1800
cussedly1802
heart1812
proper1816
slick1818
blankly1822
bang1828
smack1828
pluperfectly1831
unmitigatedly1832
bodaciously1833
unredeemedly1835
out of sight1839
bodacious1845
regular1846
thoroughly1846
ingrainedly1869
muckinga1880
fucking1893
motherless1898
self1907
stone1928
sideways1956
terminally1974
1535 Bible (Coverdale) (Coverdale) Ded. Christes admynistracion was nothyng temporall, but playne spirituall.
1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Evijv Which either naturall reason proueth to be plaine false, or the experience of man declareth to be vntrue.
c1591 in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Literary Men (1843) 78 The Russe government is plaine tirannycall.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 97 (margin) The Scottis bordirers to tile the land plane abhoris.
1661 A. Brome Songs & Other Poems sig. M3v Drink in plain silly troth you had, As strong as hop, or furnace made.
1897 Harper's Mag. June 155 Put on my white shirt, coat, and tie, and just plain forgot.
1918 Stars & Stripes 29 Mar. 5/5 Private collectors of letters, such as yourself, are just plain out of luck.
1920 F. S. Fitzgerald This Side of Paradise i. iii. 102 Well, you didn't seem so self-confident to-night. Maybe you're just plain conceited.
1955 S. A. Grau Black Prince 193 ‘You just plain remember that [is] my boat.’ ‘Who done seen it?’ his father said. ‘I plain ask you.’
1973 Times 13 Nov. 6/6 This myth that..we were just being plain difficult about Sandhurst was another very irritating criticism.
1992 In-Fisherman Feb. 5/1 (advt.) With up to 11,900 pounds full of pull, it plain out-torques and out-tows Ford and Chevy diesel pickups.
2004 Sunday Mirror (Nexis) 3 Oct. 82 I fell off when challenging for the runner-up berth. It was just plain stupid.

Compounds

C1. plain-cut, plain-dressing, plain-woven, etc., adjs.
ΚΠ
?1532 Tales & Quicke Answeres xxiii. sig. Biij He chaunced..to come acqueynted with one Conon a homely husbande man, and a plaine meanynge felowe.
1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Loue f. 2 Playne meaning men walk openly at noone.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. ii. 433 His plaine-pranckt stile he strengthens in such sort.
1613 R. Anton Moriomachia sig. A4 Haruest people..very courteously shewed him a playne beaten way, leading to a Noblemans house not farre off.
1753 tr. ‘L'Esprit Fort’ Deist Triumphant ix. 107 Her Table-Linnen must be all chequered, as if a plain-woven Rag would not do as well to wipe her greasy Lips.
1771 N. Hooker Six Discourses vi. 85 The plain living patriarchs.
1793 T. Carstairs Estimate of Cost in T. Jefferson Papers (1995) XXVI. 672 Plain Cut Stone at 4/. per foot.
1851 Empire (Sydney) 30 Jan. 2/2 The sable Australian..never contrived a defter thing than..his boomerang of plain-cut miall.
1870 D. G. Rossetti Let. 20 Apr. (1965) II. 849 I think the woodcut had better have been left out of the plain-bound copies, as it looks quaint and provoking without the binding.
1894 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Ebb-tide i. v. 96 I never could act up to the plain-cut truth, you see; so I pretend.
1908 Anat. Rec. 2 185 Every meeting was to be attended by a plain-dressed officer.
1920 D. H. Lawrence Women in Love xxix. 450 The two..daughters of the professor, with their plain-cut, dark blue blouses and loden skirts.
1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage i. 19 The embroidery completely alters the original plain-woven texture of the material.
1992 N.Y. Times Mag. 28 June 23/1 Many of Perot's Democratic friends compare him with Truman, the plain-talking leader who was not afraid to make tough decisions.
C2.
† plain down adv. Obsolete rare plainly, bluntly.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > plainness > [adverb] > straightforwardly or directly
platc1375
in short and plainc1386
plaina1387
platlyc1390
in (also at, on, unto) (a, the) plainc1395
roundc1405
homelya1413
directly1509
roundly1528
point-blank1598
in good set termsa1616
broadly1624
crudely1638
plain downa1640
plumply1726
plumpa1734
squably1737
straightforward1809
unvarnishedly1824
pine-blank1834
blankly1846
squarely1860
straight out1874
straightforwardly1906
a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Prophetesse iii. ii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Eeeev/2 Is it fit..the Emperour my Master Dioclesian should now remember or the Times or Manners that call'd him plain down Diocles?
† plain-said adj. Obsolete rare spoken without reserve; straightforward; clear and unequivocal.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > plainness > [adjective] > straightforward or direct
naked?c1225
platc1385
plaina1393
light?a1400
rounda1450
direct1530
frank1548
evena1573
handsmooth1612
point-blank1648
crude1650
plain-spoken1658
plain-spoke1706
unambiguous1751
plump1789
straightforward1806
plain-said1867
pine-blank1883
straight1894
point-to-point1905
non-ambiguous1924
Wife of Bath1926
simpliste1973
1867 J. MacGregor Rob Roy on Baltic xxi. 249 A very useful and plain-said conversation.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

† plainadv.2

Forms: see plain adj.1
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: plain adj.1
Etymology: < plain adj.1Sometimes confused with plain adv.1 (see etymological note at that entry).
Obsolete.
Entirely, quite; completely, fully. Cf. clean adv. 5.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [adverb]
fullyeOE
allesOE
fullOE
rightc1175
everydealc1300
wholec1300
whollya1325
finelyc1330
fairly1340
completec1374
gainlya1375
clearly1377
freelya1393
plaina1393
entire?a1400
entirelyc1400
oddlyc1400
sufficientlyc1440
expressc1475
totally1509
completely1526
finec1530
exactly?1531
sincerely1576
start1599
fillingly1611
circularly1618
solid1651
out-over1745
rotundly1775
roundedly?1802
whole hog1840
clear-away1883
whole cloth1917
righteous1948
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 1490 (MED) He goth Hom to his Emes court ayein, To whom his aventure plein He tolde.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. l. 13467 He was passed þe mountayns playn.
c1400 Life St. Anne (Minn.) (1928) 1665 (MED) Oure saweour Sall save þis world al playne.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 329 Euery statut koude he pleyn by roote.
?a1525 (?a1475) Play Sacrament l. 137 in N. Davis Non-Cycle Plays & Fragm. (1970) 62 I praye the goo wele pleyn Thorowght all Eraclea.
1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 132 I haif na mycht, Me to defend Fra hellis pane, bot gif thow plane Me succour send.
1580 in W. Mackay & H. C. Boyd Rec. Inverness (1911) I. 134 Plane contrar his ayth.
?a1600 (a1500) Sc. Troy Bk. (Cambr.) l. 458 in C. Horstmann Barbour's Legendensammlung (1882) II. 225 The see To weltyre ine wawis, without wynde, All playne, agane the course of kynde.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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n.1c1325n.2c1385n.3c1475adj.1a1325adj.2c1330v.c1230adv.1c1380adv.2a1393
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