plain1

[pleyn] /pleɪn/
adjective, plainer, plainest.
1.
clear or distinct to the eye or ear:
a plain trail to the river; to stand in plain view.
2.
clear to the mind; evident, manifest, or obvious:
to make one's meaning plain.
3.
conveying the meaning clearly and simply; easily understood:
plain talk.
4.
downright; sheer; utter; self-evident:
plain folly; plain stupidity.
5.
free from ambiguity or evasion; candid; outspoken:
the plain truth of the matter.
6.
without special pretensions, superiority, elegance, etc.; ordinary:
plain people.
7.
not beautiful; physically unattractive or undistinguished:
a plain face.
8.
without intricacies or difficulties.
9.
ordinary, simple, or unostentatious:
Although she was a duchess, her manners were attractively plain.
10.
with little or no embellishment, decoration, or enhancing elaboration:
a plain blue suit.
11.
without a pattern, figure, or device:
a plain fabric.
12.
not rich, highly seasoned, or elaborately prepared, as food:
a plain diet.
13.
flat or level:
plain country.
14.
unobstructed, clear, or open, as ground, a space, etc.
15.
Cards. being other than a face card or a trump.
adverb
16.
clearly and simply:
He's just plain stupid.
noun
17.
an area of land not significantly higher than adjacent areas and with relatively minor differences in elevation, commonly less than 500 feet (150 meters), within the area.
18.
The Plains. Great Plains.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English (adj., adv., and noun) < Old French (adj. and noun) < Latin plānus flat, level, plānum flat country
Related forms
plainly, adverb
plainness, noun
Synonyms
1, 2. lucid, understandable, intelligible, unmistakable, apparent, perspicuous. 2, 3. unambiguous, unequivocal, patent, transparent; direct. 5. unreserved, straightforward, blunt, frank, ingenuous, open, sincere. 6. unpretentious. 10. unadorned.
Antonyms
1. indistinct. 2. obscure. 13. hilly.
Synonym Study
10. See homely.

plain2

[pleyn] /pleɪn/
verb (used without object), British Dialect
1.
to complain.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English plei(g)nen < Old French plaign-, stem of plaindre < Latin plangere to beat (the breast, etc.), lament; akin to Greek plḗssein to strike
Examples from the web for plain
  • Try the same study as free moving subjects with little resistance to motion while walking on a level plain.
  • Again, declaring that his speech is plain, he disclaimed any rhetorical show of elegance.
  • We like the earthy flavor of plain mushrooms just as much.
  • The cucumber-dill and sea-salt-with-black-pepper flavors have more zing than the plain sea salt.
  • The plain language of the statute shows that the infringer's knowledge or intent does not affect its application.
  • Thousands of years ago giant mammoths and mastodons roamed a plain now covered by the Atlantic.
  • This is a ridiculous and just plain nasty accusation.
  • They are hidden in plain sight.
  • It also replenishes the fertility of flood plain soils.
  • Trolling is disruptive, unnecessary, and just plain not appreciated.
British Dictionary definitions for plain

plain1

/pleɪn/
adjective
1.
flat or smooth; level
2.
not complicated; clear: the plain truth
3.
not difficult; simple or easy: a plain task
4.
honest or straightforward
5.
lowly, esp in social rank or education
6.
without adornment or show: a plain coat
7.
(of fabric) without pattern or of simple untwilled weave
8.
not attractive
9.
not mixed; simple: plain vodka
10.
(knitting) of or done in plain
noun
11.
a level or almost level tract of country, esp an extensive treeless region
12.
a simple stitch in knitting made by putting the right needle into a loop on the left needle, passing the wool round the right needle, and pulling it through the loop, thus forming a new loop
13.
(in billiards)
  1. the unmarked white ball, as distinguished from the spot balls
  2. the player using this ball
14.
(in Ireland) short for plain porter, a light porter: two pints of plain, please
adverb
15.
(intensifier): just plain tired
See also plains
Derived Forms
plainly, adverb
plainness, noun
Word Origin
C13: from Old French: simple, from Latin plānus level, distinct, clear

plain2

/pleɪn/
verb
1.
a dialect or poetic word for complain
Word Origin
C14 pleignen, from Old French plaindre to lament, from Latin plangere to beat
Word Origin and History for plain
adj.

c.1300, "flat, smooth," from Old French plain "flat, smooth, even" (12c.), from Latin planus "flat, even, level" (see plane (n.1)). Sense of "evident" is from, c.1300; that of "free from obstruction" is early 14c.; meaning "simple, sincere, ordinary" is recorded from late 14c., especially of dress, "unembellished, without decoration."

In reference to the dress and speech of Quakers, it is recorded from 1824; of Amish and Mennonites, from 1894 (in the Dutch regions of Pennsylvania Plain with the capital is shorthand adjective for "Amish and Old Order Mennonite"). Of appearance, as a euphemism for "ill-favored, ugly" it dates from 1749. Of envelopes from 1913. As an adverb from early 14c. Plain English is from c.1500. Plain dealer "one who deals plainly or speaks candidly" is from 1570s, marked "Now rare" in OED 2nd edition. To be as plain as the nose on (one's) face is from 1690s.

n.

"level country," c.1300 (in reference to Salisbury Plain), from Old French plain "open countryside," from Latin planum "level ground, plain," noun use of neuter of planus (adj.) "flat, even, level" (see plane (n.1)). Latin planum was used for "level ground" but much more common was campus.

plain in Science
plain
  (plān)   

  1. An extensive, relatively level area of land. Plains are present on all continents except Antarctica and are most often located in the interior regions. Because they can occur at almost any altitude or latitude, plains can be humid and forested, semiarid and grass-covered, or arid.

  2. A broad, level expanse, such as an area of the sea floor or a lunar mare.


plain in Technology


Programming LAnguage for INteraction. Pascal-like, with extensions for database, string handling, exceptions and pattern matching. "Revised Report on the Programming Language PLAIN", A. Wasserman, SIGPLAN Notices 6(5):59-80 (May 1981).

plain in the Bible

(1.) Heb. 'abel (Judg. 11:33), a "grassy plain" or "meadow." Instead of "plains of the vineyards," as in the Authorized Version, the Revised Version has "Abel-cheramim" (q.v.), comp. Judg. 11:22; 2 Chr. 16:4. (2.) Heb. 'elon (Gen. 12:6; 13:18; 14:13; 18:1; Deut. 11:30; Judg. 9:6), more correctly "oak," as in the Revised Version; margin, "terebinth." (3.) Heb. bik'ah (Gen. 11:2; Neh. 6:2; Ezek. 3:23; Dan. 3:1), properly a valley, as rendered in Isa. 40:4, a broad plain between mountains. In Amos 1:5 the margin of Authorized Version has "Bikathaven." (4.) Heb. kikar, "the circle," used only of the Ghor, or the low ground along the Jordan (Gen. 13:10-12; 19:17, 25, 28, 29; Deut. 34:3; 2 Sam. 18:23; 1 Kings 7:46; 2 Chr. 4:17; Neh. 3:22; 12:28), the floor of the valley through which it flows. This name is applied to the Jordan valley as far north as Succoth. (5.) Heb. mishor, "level ground," smooth, grassy table-land (Deut. 3:10; 4:43; Josh. 13:9, 16, 17, 21; 20:8; Jer. 48:21), an expanse of rolling downs without rock or stone. In these passages, with the article prefixed, it denotes the plain in the tribe of Reuben. In 2 Chr. 26:10 the plain of Judah is meant. Jerusalem is called "the rock of the plain" in Jer. 21:13, because the hills on which it is built rise high above the plain. (6.) Heb. 'arabah, the valley from the Sea of Galilee southward to the Dead Sea (the "sea of the plain," 2 Kings 14:25; Deut. 1:1; 2:8), a distance of about 70 miles. It is called by the modern Arabs the Ghor. This Hebrew name is found in Authorized Version (Josh. 18:18), and is uniformly used in the Revised Version. Down through the centre of this plain is a ravine, from 200 to 300 yards wide, and from 50 to 100 feet deep, through which the Jordan flows in a winding course. This ravine is called the "lower plain." The name Arabah is also applied to the whole Jordan valley from Mount Hermon to the eastern branch of the Red Sea, a distance of about 200 miles, as well as to that portion of the valley which stretches from the Sea of Galilee to the same branch of the Red Sea, i.e., to the Gulf of Akabah about 100 miles in all. (7.) Heb. shephelah, "low ground," "low hill-land," rendered "vale" or "valley" in Authorized Version (Josh. 9:1; 10:40; 11:2; 12:8; Judg. 1:9; 1 Kings 10:27). In Authorized Version (1 Chr. 27:28; 2 Chr. 26:10) it is also rendered "low country." In Jer. 17:26, Obad. 1:19, Zech. 7:7, "plain." The Revised Version renders it uniformly "low land." When it is preceded by the article, as in Deut. 1:7, Josh. 11:16; 15:33, Jer. 32:44; 33:13, Zech. 7:7, "the shephelah," it denotes the plain along the Mediterranean from Joppa to Gaza, "the plain of the Philistines." (See VALLEY.)

Idioms and Phrases with plain

plain

also see:
in plain English