[pleyn] 
noun, adjective, verb, planed, plan⋅ing.| 1. | a flat or level surface. |
| 2. | Geometry. a surface generated by a straight line moving at a constant velocity with respect to a fixed point. |
| 3. | Fine Arts. an area of a two-dimensional surface having determinate extension and spatial direction or position: oblique plane; horizontal plane. |
| 4. | a level of dignity, character, existence, development, or the like: a high moral plane. |
| 5. | Aeronautics.
|
| 6. | Architecture. a longitudinal section through the axis of a column. |
| 7. | flat or level, as a surface. |
| 8. | of or pertaining to planes or plane figures. |
| 9. | to glide or soar. |
| 10. | (of a boat) to rise partly out of the water when moving at high speed. |
| 11. | Informal. to fly or travel in an airplane: We'll drive to Detroit and plane to Los Angeles. |
[pleyn] noun, verb, planed, plan⋅ing.| 1. | Carpentry. any of various woodworking instruments for paring, truing, or smoothing, or for forming moldings, chamfers, rabbets, grooves, etc., by means of an inclined, adjustable blade moved along and against the piece being worked. |
| 2. | a trowellike tool for smoothing the surface of clay in a brick mold. |
| 3. | to smooth or dress with or as if with a plane or a planer. |
| 4. | to remove by or as if by means of a plane (usually fol. by away or off). |
| 5. | to work with a plane. |
| 6. | to function as a plane. |
[pleyn] | plane tree. |
| plane 1 (plān) n.
[Latin plānum, flat surface, from neuter of plānus, flat; see pelə-2 in Indo-European roots. N., sense 4, short for aeroplane.] plane'ness n. Word History: The plane in which we fly is properly named for a very important element of its structure—the wing that keeps it in the air. But the story behind this name is slightly complicated. To begin with, plane in the sense of "winged vehicle," first recorded in April 1908, is a shortened form of aeroplane. In June of that year plane appeared in a quotation from the London Times that mentioned one of the Wright brothers. Aeroplane, first recorded in 1866, is made up of the prefix aero-, "air, aviation," and the word plane, referring to the structure designed to keep an air vehicle aloft. Originally the plane in such contexts was imagined as flat, hence the choice of the word plane; in practice this surface must curve slightly in order to work. The word aeroplane for the vehicle is first found in 1873. The first recorded appearance of the form airplane in our current sense, which uses air- instead of aero-, is found in 1907. An American flies in an airplane while a Briton still travels in an aeroplane, but both can catch a plane. |
| plane 2 (plān) n.
v. tr.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin plāna, from plānāre, to plane, from plānus, flat; see pelə-2 in Indo-European roots.] |
| plane 3 (plān) intr.v. planed, plan·ing, planes
[Middle English planen, to glide, soar, from Old French planer, from plain, flat, level; see plain.] |
| plane 4 (plān) n. The plane tree. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin platanus, from Greek platanos, perhaps from platus, broad; see plat- in Indo-European roots.] |
A geometrical location having only two dimensions — length and width (no height). (See coordinates and plane geometry.)
plane 1 (plān)
n.
A surface containing all the straight lines that connect any two points on it.
A flat or level surface.
An imaginary surface formed by extension through any axis of the body or through two definite points on the body.