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Definition of plain - 15 dictionary results

plain

1 [pleyn]

adjective, -er, -est, adverb, noun

Use plain in a Sentence

–adjective

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 ft. (150 m), within the area.

18.	The Plains. Great Plains.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME (adj., adv., and n.) < OF (adj. and n.) < L 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. See homely.

Antonyms:
1. indistinct. 2. obscure. 13. hilly.

plain

2 [pleyn]

–verb (used without object) British Dialect.

to complain.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME plei(g)nen < OF plaign-, s. of plaindre < L plangere to beat (the breast, etc.), lament; akin to Gk pl

ssein to strike

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To plain

plain (plān)

adj. plain·er, plain·est

Free from obstructions; open; clear: in plain view.
Obvious to the mind; evident: make one's intention plain. See Synonyms at apparent.
Not elaborate or complicated; simple: plain food.
Straightforward; frank or candid: plain talk.
Not mixed with other substances; pure: plain water.
Common in rank or station; average; ordinary: a plain man.
Not pretentious; unaffected.
Marked by little or no ornamentation or decoration.
Not dyed, twilled, or patterned: a plain fabric.
Lacking beauty or distinction: a plain face.
Sheer; utter; unqualified: plain stupidity.
Archaic Having no visible elevation or depression; flat; level.

1. An extensive, level, usually treeless area of land.
2. A broad level expanse, as a part of the sea floor or a lunar mare.
Something free of ornamentation or extraneous matter.

adv. Informal
Clearly; simply: plain stubborn.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin plānus; see pelə-² in Indo-European roots.]
plain'ly adv., plain'ness n.

Synonyms: These adjectives mean not ornate, ostentatious, or showy: a plain hairstyle; a modest cottage; a simple dark suit; an unostentatious office; an unpretentious country church.
Antonym: ornate

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Plain

Plain\, v. i. [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.] To lament; to bewail; to complain. [Archaic & Poetic] --Milton.

We with piteous heart unto you pleyne. --Chaucer.

Plain

Plain\, v. t. To lament; to mourn over; as, to plain a loss. [Archaic & Poetic] --Sir J. Harrington.

Plain

Plain\, a. [Compar. Plainer; superl. Plainest.] [F., level, flat, fr. L. planus, perhaps akin to E. floor. Cf. Llano, Piano, Plan, Plane level, a level surface.]

1. Without elevations or depressions; flat; level; smooth; even. See Plane.

The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. --Isa. xl. 4.

2. Open; clear; unencumbered; equal; fair.

Our troops beat an army in plain fight. --Felton.

3. Not intricate or difficult; evident; manifest; obvious; clear; unmistakable. "'T is a plain case." --Shak.

4. (a) Void of extraneous beauty or ornament; without conspicious embellishment; not rich; simple. (b) Not highly cultivated; unsophisticated; free from show or pretension; simple; natural; homely; common. "Plain yet pious Christians." --Hammond. "The plain people." --A. Lincoln. (c) Free from affectation or disguise; candid; sincere; artless; honest; frank. "An honest mind, and plain." --Shak. (d) Not luxurious; not highly seasoned; simple; as, plain food. (e) Without beauty; not handsome; homely; as, a plain woman. (f) Not variegated, dyed, or figured; as, plain muslin. (g) Not much varied by modulations; as, a plain tune.

Plain battle, open battle; pitched battle. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Plain chant (Mus.) Same as Plain song, below.

Plain chart (Naut.), a chart laid down on Mercator's projection.

Plain dealer. (a) One who practices plain dealing. (b) A simpleton. [Obs.] --Shak.

Plain dealing. See under Dealing.

Plain molding (Join.), molding of which the surfaces are plain figures.

Plain sewing, sewing of seams by simple and common stitches, in distinct from fancy work, embroidery, etc.; -- distinguished also from designing and fitting garments.

Plain song. (a) The Gregorian chant, or canto fermo; the prescribed melody of the Roman Catholic service, sung in unison, in tones of equal length, and rarely extending beyond the compass of an octave. (b) A simple melody.

Plain speaking, plainness or bluntness of speech.

Syn: Level; flat; smooth; open; artless; unaffected; undisguised; frank; sincere; honest; candid; ingenuous; unembellished; downright; blunt; clear; simple; distinct; manifest; obvious; apparent. See Manifest.

Plain

Plain\, adv. In a plain manner; plainly. "To speak short and pleyn." --Chaucer. "To tell you plain." --Shak.

Plain

Plain\, n. [Cf. OF. plaigne, F. plaine. See Plain, a.]

1. Level land; usually, an open field or a broad stretch of land with an even surface, or a surface little varied by inequalities; as, the plain of Jordan; the American plains, or prairies.

Descending fro the mountain into playn. --Chaucer.

Him the Ammonite Worshiped in Rabba and her watery plain. --Milton.

2. A field of battle. [Obs.] --Arbuthnot.

Lead forth my soldiers to the plain. --Shak.

Plain

Plain\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plained; p. pr. & vb. n. Plaining.] [Cf. Plane, v.]

1. To plane or level; to make plain or even on the surface. [R.]

We would rake Europe rather, plain the East. --Wither.

2. To make plain or manifest; to explain.

What's dumb in show, I'll plain in speech. --Shak.

Language Translation for : plain

Spanish: sencillo; liso; sin ornamentos; llano (persona),

German: einfach,

Japanese: 簡素な

More Translations »

plain (adj.)

c.1300, "flat, smooth," from O.Fr. plain, from L. planus "flat, even, level" (see plane (1)). Sense of "evident" is from, c.1300; meaning "simple, sincere, ordinary" is recorded from c.1374. In ref. to the dress and speech of Quakers, it is recorded from 1827; of Amish and Mennonites, from 1904. Of appearance, as a euphemism for "ill-favored, ugly" it dates from 1749. Plain Jane "unattractive woman" first attested 1912. Plain-spoken first attested 1678. Plain clothes "ordinary dress" (as opposed to military uniform) is from 1822; of police detectives, it is attested from 1842. Plain-song (1513) translates L. cantus planus.

plain (n.)

"level country," 1297 (originally in ref. to Salisbury Plain), from O.Fr. plain, from L. planum "level ground, plain," properly neut. of adj. planus "flat, even, level" ((see plane (1)). L. planum was used for "level ground" but much more common was campus. Plains of the American Midwest first so called 1684.

plain (plān) Pronunciation Key

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.

PLAIN
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

(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.)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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plain

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