plain¹

[pleyn] /pleɪn/

adjective, plainer, plainest.

clear or distinct to the eye or ear:

a plain trail to the river; to stand in plain view.

clear to the mind; evident, manifest, or obvious:

to make one's meaning plain.

conveying the meaning clearly and simply; easily understood:

plain talk.

downright; sheer; utter; self-evident:

plain folly; plain stupidity.

free from ambiguity or evasion; candid; outspoken:

the plain truth of the matter.

without special pretensions, superiority, elegance, etc.; ordinary:

plain people.

not beautiful; physically unattractive or undistinguished:

a plain face.

without intricacies or difficulties.

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

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 plains

The flat coastal plains of the south give way to valleys, then hills and mountains toward the middle and north.
Firms are proposing ambitious transmission lines across the plains.
It has a mountainous central plateau and coastal plains.
They were regarded as the premier horse thieves of the plains.
Mine is the wild-type sunflower, native to the plains.
There is strong evidence of floods-and of channels carved by these floods-draining into the northern plains.
Multihued summits-whittled by ancient glaciers into walls and horns-rise abruptly from gently rolling plains.
Open plains and prairies, farmland, and sometimes edges of woods.
They seem to get along with antelope well on the flat plains and the elk in the high country.
To the east, a one-hour drive takes you through high and low valleys and tropical plains.

British Dictionary definitions for plains

plains

/pleɪnz/

plural noun

(mainly US) extensive tracts of level or almost level treeless countryside; prairies

plain¹

/pleɪn/

adjective

flat or smooth; level

not complicated; clear: the plain truth

not difficult; simple or easy: a plain task

honest or straightforward

lowly, esp in social rank or education

without adornment or show: a plain coat

(of fabric) without pattern or of simple untwilled weave

not attractive

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)

the unmarked white ball, as distinguished from the spot balls
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

plain²

/pleɪn/

verb

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 plains

of the American Midwest, 1755 (in singular form from 1680s), see plain (n.). Plains Indian attested from 1844.

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.

"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.

plains in Science

plain

(plān)

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

plains 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 plains

plain

also see:

in plain English