▪ I. plain, n.1
(pleɪn)
Forms: see plain a.1
[a. OF. plain:—L. plān-um a plain, prop. neut. of plān-us plain a.1]
1. a. A tract of country of which the general surface is comparatively flat; an extent of level ground or flat meadow land; applied spec. (in proper or quasi-proper names) to certain extensive tracts of this character; e.g. Salisbury Plain, the Great Plain of England, etc. In pl. spec. the river valleys of N. India. Also fig.
Cities of the Plain (sc. of the Jordan), Sodom, Gomorrah, etc., before their destruction.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 155 Vpon þe plein of salesbury þat oþer wonder is Þat ston heng is icluped. a 1300 Cursor M. 2831 Ne mak ȝee in þe plain na duell, Till ȝee be comme in to þe fell. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 10831 Þe bataille scholde be in a pleyne Bytwyxt two watres. 1375 Barbour Bruce vii. 613 Thai in full gret hy agane Out of the woud ran to the plane. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn vii. 32 He sawe there vnder in a playn a moche ample and a grete medowe. 1530 Palsgr. 255/1 Playne, a grounde that is without hylles, planier, playne. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 7 Heir agane sall ȝe se braid planes. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa v. 256 The citie of Cairasan standeth vpon a sandie and desert plaine. 1611 Bible Gen. xiii. 12 Lot dwelled in the cities of the plaine, and pitched his tent toward Sodome. 1653 Walton Angler i. 36 The plains extended level with the ground. 1769 Gray Installation Ode 51 On Granta's fruitful plain. 1840 Penny Cycl. XVIII. 207/2 The plains of America are generally characterised by their gramineous covering or their vast forests. 1882 Geikie Text Bk. Geol. iii. ii. ii. §7. 451 A ‘plain of marine denudation’ is that sea-level to which a mass of land has been reduced mainly by the subaerial forces. 1886 Kipling Departm. Ditties (ed. 2) 27 Will you stay in the Plains till September? 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.’ Ibid., It is the children who are the first consideration. Until they are grown up, and married off. When that happens one has again the right to live for oneself—in the plains or the hills, as suits. 1975 R. P. Jhabvala Heat & Dust 33 They began to discuss their Simla plans again... Which servants..to leave behind to look after the poor old Sahibs who had to stay and sweat it out in the plains. |
b. Chiefly
pl. In Colonial and
U.S. use applied to level treeless tracts of country; prairie.
| 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. Exp. Australia 83 Free from timber or brush in various places;..these tracts have hitherto received the particular denomination of plains. 1824 E. Curr 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 Temple & 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. 1889 C. Lumholtz Among Cannibals v. 73 This bird [the cassowary]..does not..frequent the open plains, but the thick brushwood. |
c. transf. The level expanse of sea or sky.
| 1567 Drant Horace, Epist. xviii. F vj, Then whilst thy ship doth kepe aflote ydauncing on the plaine. 1728 Pope Dunc. iii. 342 The sick'ning stars fade off th'æthereal plain. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxii. (1856) 176 On the east we have the drift plain of Wellington Channel, impacted with floes, hummocks, and broken bergs. |
2. An open space as the scene of battle or contest; the field.
to take the plain: to take the field: see
field n. 7. Now
poetic.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xii. 349 Thomas randall tuk the playne With few folk. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 358 As he, which was a Capitein, Tofore alle othre upon the plein. 1513 Douglas æneis x. x. 146 Quhil fynaly Ascanyus the ȝyng page, And the remanent of Troiane barnage,..Thayr strenth hes left, and takyn hes the plane. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, v. iii. 291, I will leade forth my Soldiers to the plaine. 1808 Scott Marm. vi. xxix. 7 Last of my race, On battle-plain That shout shall ne'er be heard again! |
3. An open space in the midst of houses.
local.
| 1847–78 Halliwell, 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. 18.. Oxf. Directory, The Plain (St. Clement's). 1895 G. H. Leonard Speech at Oxford, Our Settlement is called the Broad Plain House..simply because it happens to stand on the Broad Plain, a roadway so wide that we may almost claim it as one of the ‘open spaces’ of Bristol. |
4. A level or flat surface (ideal or material). Now spelt
plane (
plane n.3 1).
† a. A geometrical plane.
Obs.| 1570 Dee Math. Pref. *j, A broade magnitude, we call a Superficies or a Plaine. a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. ii. ix. §4 (1622) 297 Whether solides or plaines. 1673 Ray Journ. Low C. 4 The Leaves..lie not in the same plain when shut, but make an obtuse Angle. 1697 Bp. Patrick Comm. Exod. xx. 4 The Images..they might draw on a Plain. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. 195 A convenient height above the plain of the ring. |
b. A plane material surface; the even or smooth surface of a body without projections or elevations; the flat or broad side of a board, as opposed to the
edge.
Obs. or
arch.| 1571 Digges Pantom. i. xxxv. L j b, You shal vpon your Parchement paper or other playne..draw one streight line. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 5 Which she can at pleasure squeeze out, and so sodder and be-glew her self to the plain she walks on. a 1672 Willughby in Ray Journ. Low C. (1673) 484 You ascend almost to the top without stairs, by gently inclining plains. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 186 To take off the extuberances from the plain of the Board. 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 7 Plain, an even surface between the Coaks. 1863 P. S. Worsley Poems & Transl. 8 The silver plains Of two huge valves, embossed with graven gold. |
† c. A level (horizontal) area.
Obs.| 1614 Selden Titles Hon. 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 Ray Journ. Low C., Venice 160 In the plain of the Council-chamber, are placed..three urns called Capelli. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. 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. Printing. The flat bottom of the lining-stick (see
lining vbl. n.2 6).
Obs.| 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xvii. ¶2 The Plain is exactly Flat, Straight, and Smooth. |
6. The floor of the hall in which the French National Convention met at the time of the Revolution; hence applied to the more moderate party which occupied seats there.
Cf. mountain.
| 1827 Scott Napoleon Introd., Wks. 1870 IX. 30 In ‘the Plain’,..a position held by deputies affecting independence, both of the Girondists and the Jacobins,..sate a large number. Ibid. 32 The members of the Plain. |
7. The horizontal surface of a billiard-table.
| 1780 Char. in Ann. Reg. 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. = plan n. 1,
plane n.3 2.
Obs.
| 1659 J. Leak Waterwks. 19, I have represented here the plain of the Orthographie. |
9. [
plain a. 8.] Plain cloth; a kind of flannel.
| a 1600 T. Smith Let. in Strype Stow's Surv. (1754) II. v. xix. 401/2 Also of pyndewhites and Playnes made in the west country. 1716 Bradford Parish Acc. (E.D.D.), For Blue Plain for mending the same [long cushions], 1s. 1d. 1725 Lond. Gaz. No. 6388/2 The following Goods, viz... Arrangoes..Perpetts, Welch Plains. 1799 Hull Advertiser 12 Jan. 2/3 Woollen drapery..jeans, quiltings,..plains, mixtures. 1847–78 Halliwell, Plain,..a kind of flannel. |
10. attrib. and
Comb., as
plain land,
plain station;
plain-like adj.; also with
plains-, as
plains-cattle,
plains-country,
plains-craft,
plains culture,
plains guide,
plains hunter,
plains malady,
plains-people,
plains station,
plains tribe;
plains-bred,
plains-fed adjs.;
plain(s) buffalo, a subspecies of the North American buffalo,
Bison bison bison, which is smaller than the wood buffalo, has hair of a lighter shade of brown, and formerly inhabited the prairie regions of central and western North America;
plain turkey, (
a) the Australian bustard,
Ardeotis australis, of the family Otididæ; (
b)
Austral. slang, a bush tramp;
plain(s)-wanderer, a terrestrial Australian bird,
Pedionomus torquatus, resembling a quail. See also
plainsman.
| 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. |
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xi. 337 He of the *playne-land had alsua Of Armyt men ane mekill rout. 1875 Temple & Sheldon Hist. Northfield, Mass. 64 Plain lands..were then reckoned nearly worthless. |
| 1834 Nat. Philos. III. Math. Geog. i. 1/2 (Usef. Knowl. Soc.) Deceived by the *plain-like appearance of the earth..they conceived it to be an extensive plain meeting the heavens on every side. |
| 1884 Daily News 27 Feb. 5/7 Assouan..is healthier than Meerut, Mooltan, Mean Meer, or almost any *plain station in India. |
| 1911 C. E. W. Bean ‘Dreadnought’ of Darling xvii. 169 We saw several *plain turkeys, birds not unlike bustards. 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. 1948 V. Palmer Golconda xviii. 144 He had almost given up his tramps along the river-bed in search of a plain-turkey or kangaroo. 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. 1965 Austral. Encycl. II. 223/1 The Australian species [of bustard]..is usually known as wild turkey or plain turkey. |
| 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. |
| 1901 Kipling Kim xiii. 328 The lama..walked as only a hillman can. Kim, *plains-bred and plains-fed, sweated and panted astonished. 1903 ― Five Nations 53 But that night the Norther..Froze and killed the plains-bred ponies. |
| 1889 Ann. Rep. Board of Regents Smithsonian Inst. 1886–87 II. 408 The changes which would take place in a band of *plains buffaloes transferred to a permanent mountain habitat can be forecast. 1910 E. T. Seton Life-Hist. Northern Animals I. 260 We have 20,000,000 as the number of the Plains Buffalo. 1963 Maclean's Mag. 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? 1972 T. McHugh Time of Buffalo iii. 22 Differences in color and texture of coat are useful in separating the two subspecies—Bison bison bison, the plains buffalo, and Bison bison athabascae, the wood buffalo. |
| 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 220 First⁓class, fattening, *plains-country cattle station. |
| 1899 Scribner's Mag. XXV. 19/1 Here their woodcraft and *plainscraft, their knowledge of the rifle, helped us very much. |
| 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’. 1914 Amer. Anthropologist XVI. 16 The true Plains culture may properly be said to have developed with the introduction to the horse. 1957 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. 1956 xxvi. 17 KahnI ‘brush⁓covered hut’ changed its meaning to ‘teepee’ when the Indians went over to a plains culture and to ‘house’ when they adopted European culture. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 27 June 2-c/3 Plains culture of long ago can be read into the opulent jewelry Nighthorse creates. |
| 1901 *Plains-fed [see plains-bred adj.]. |
| 1877 R. I. Dodge Hunting Grounds Gt. West v. 63 ‘Old Bridger’, the most thorough and justly celebrated of all *plains guides. |
| 1831 T. Simpson Let. 19 Dec. in MacLeod & 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. 1922 Beaver Dec. 113/2 The half-breeds dislike a settled life; they prefer the excitement of the chase or the idle life of the fisherman. They are technically termed plains hunters. 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. |
| 1877 R. I. Dodge Hunting Grounds Gt. West v. 67 Another *plains malady..is called ‘moon-blind’. |
| 1899 Daily News 12 Jan. 6/1 The writer has lived..with the *plains people in their homes for many years. 1905 Nation (N.Y.) 5 Jan. 11/1 As a plains people they [sc. the Pawnee] were largely dependent upon the chase. 1963 Times 19 Apr. 14/6 The great love of the Pakistani plainspeople for water. |
| 1930 L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs (ser. 1) v. 109 Valetta was the last of the old *plains stations to remain anything like its original size. 1933 ― in Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) 9 Sept. 15/7 C[row's] n[est]s were used on the old plains stations until the runs were fenced, about 1860. |
| 1870 De B. R. Keim Sheridan's Troopers on Borders iv. 29 The *Plains Tribes have, as yet, presented no prominent warriors in the character of leaders. 1877 R. I. Dodge Hunting Grounds Gt. West xli. 419 The Tonkaways cannot properly be called a plains tribe. 1917 C. Wissler Amer. Indian viii. 131 North of Mexico, methods of reckoning time are very crude, though apparently strongest among the Pueblo and adjacent Plains tribes. 1949 Nat. Geogr. Mag. Oct. 473/1 What the buffalo was to the Plains tribes the caribou is to the Indians of the far north. |
| 1926 Emu XXVI. 59 (heading) The vanishing *Plains-wanderer. 1964 A. L. Thomson New Dict. Birds 635/1 Plains⁓wanderers..are usually loth to fly. |
▪ II. plain, n.2 Now
dial. [f. plain v.] An expression of pain, grief, or discontent; complaint, lamentation:
= plaint n.| c 1550 Pryde & Abuse of Women 231 in Hazl. E.P.P. IV. 244 And for oure sad & honest playnes, A joyefull place in heaven. 1563 B. Googe Eglogs (Arb.) 95 Why dydste thou than, kepe backe thy wofull playn? 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iv. ix, The warrior-threat, the infant's plain, The mother's screams, were heard in vain. 1876 Whitby Gloss., Plains, complaints in all senses. |
▪ III. plain, a.1 and adv. (
pleɪn)
Also 4
plein,
-e (
playen), 4–6
pleyn,
-e, 4–7
playn(e,
plaine,
plane.
[a. OF. plain:—L. plān-us flat. In Sc. usually spelt plane from 14th c.; in English orig. plain (etc.) in all senses, including the geometrical (1 c), for which plane was substituted c 1700. plain a.
2 (F.
plein) having the same form, there are
ME. instances in which it is difficult to determine which word was meant. See A. 3 b, B. 6, 7.]
A. adj. I. 1. Flat, level, even; free from elevations and depressions.
a. Said
esp. of a horizontal surface, as of the ground, or
† of the sea when calm and undisturbed (
obs.).
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1772 Þey..left þe Troiens þe pleyn lond. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxviii. 129 Þe land of Caldee es a playne cuntree. 1480 Caxton Descr. Brit. 47 The londe is not pleyne but full of montayns. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 404 Follow me then to plainer ground. 1625 N. Carpenter Geog. Del. i. ii. (1635) 34 If the Earth were plaine, all the Northern Starres would appeare to the inhabitants of the Southerne Regions. 1665 G. Havers tr. P. della Valle's Trav. E. India 108 We lodg'd about a musket-shot without the Fort, in a plane and somewhat low place. 1766 Wesley Wks. (1872) III. 240, I recovered some strength, so as to be able to walk a little on plain ground. 1847 Grote Greece ii. xxv. IV. 16 Between the last-mentioned gulf [the Thermaic] and the eastern counterforts of Olympus and Bermius there exists a narrow strip of plain land. |
† b. In general sense: Flat.
Obs.| 13.. K. Alis. 6414 (Bodl. MS.) Men of selcouþ gest Þe face hij han playne & hard As it were an Okes bord. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. lv. (Bodl. MS.), The sole of þe foote..hatte planta in latine for it is playne. 1565–73 Cooper Thesaurus, Compressa palma aut porrecta ferire,..to strike with the fist, or with the playne hande. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 120 His back is plain to his tail, his eyes quick, his ears long hanging, but sometimes stand up. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 214 The houses are built after the manner of Asia,..one roofe high, and plaine in the top. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 147 They shut in their heads behinde and before in boards, so that the whole face may become plain and dilated. |
† c. Geom. Obs. Now
plane a.
| 1570 Dee Math. Pref. *j, Euery playne magnitude, hath also length. 1570 Billingsley Euclid i. def. viii. 3 A plaine angle is an inclination or bowing of two lines the one to the other. 1660 Barrow Euclid i. Def. vii, A plain Superficies is that which lies equally betwixt its lines. 1727 [see plano-cylindrical s.v. plano-1]. |
† d. to make, throw down, beat down (a building, city, etc.) plain with the earth or ground, etc.: to level with the ground, raze to the earth.
| c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xi. 48 Þis citee tuke Iosue..and kest it doune, and made it euen playne with þe erthe. 1436 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 152 The walles they wold ber adowne,..Alle schuld be mad fulle playn. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VII 44 He with his miners rased and ouerthrewe the castell to the playne grounde. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 94 He threwe downe the Castell plaine with the ground. 1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 615/2 It was his pollicye to leave noe holdes behind him, but to make all playne and wast. 1596 Harington Metam. Ajax (1814) 92 Down, down with it at any hand, Make all things plain, let nothing stand. 1648 Gage West Ind. 48 The greatest part of their City..beaten down plain with the ground. |
† 2. a. Smooth, even; free from roughness or unevenness of surface.
Obs. exc. in
Comb. or phrases: see VI.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1068 Þat euer is polyced als playn as þe perle seluen. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 41 Also pleyne was his bedde at the morwe, As at even. 1559 Morwyng Evonym. 208 If the face be wet and rubbed with the same it shall be plaine and cleare, that it shall seme angellike. 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. lxviii. 99 Turners..do vse them to polish, and make playne, and smoth their workes. 1678 Hobbes Decam. ix. 108 Much more then will it adhere..when..both it and the Iron have a plain Superficies. 1704 J. Pitts Acc. Mohammetans ix. (1738) 186 Smooth'd over the Meal, and made it plain. |
† b. fig. Of the wind: Not rough; gentle.
Obs.| c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 3 The ayre attempered, the wyndes smowth and playne. |
3. a. Free from obstructions or interruptions; unobstructed, clear, open; (of a country, a space) clear of woods, buildings, or occupants; (of the sea) open, unconfined; open to the elements or to general view; public. Also
fig. Obs. exc. dial.| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1723 Whan al was fled, & þe feld was playn. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 439 For hit watz playn in þat place for plyande greuez. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 126 She straue & chidde in the plaine strete wit her neygheboures. 1546 Supplic. of Poore Commons (1871) 78 A churche..pleasauntly beset with groues and playn feldes. 1579 Fenton Guicciard. (1618) 16 Able to give him battell in the plaine sea. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. x. §43 He affirmes, that it was in the plainefield, ours, that it was an Ambush. 1618 Munday Stow's Surv. 906 There were two woods in the parish, but now they are both made plaine of wood. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. xiv. 286 Its walls are built upon the plain ground, without either outwork or ditch before them. 1864 Yorks. Prov., Kirkby, This street is very plain, the wind is much felt in it. |
† b. In
plain field there was in later use
prob. association with
plain battle, etc.
= open (
i.e. full) battle: see
plain a.
2 3.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 7218 And past furth prudly into þe plaine feld. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxxi. 288 They..thought to wynne the victory with their handes in playne felde. 1533 Bellenden Livy ii. (S.T.S.) I. 237 It was fochtin in plane feild [L. æquo campo] with displayit baneris. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. iv. 14 Unsubdued..and now given over by the Romans in a plain field. |
c. transf. Unobstructed, clear (
view,
sight).
| 1613 Hayward Norm. Kings 22 With a furious charge..either slew them or tooke them prisoners, in the plaine view of their King. 1867 Shedd Homiletics iii. (1869) 54 An object is in plain sight, when the form and shape of it are distinctly visible. |
II. 4. Open, clear to the senses or mind; evident, manifest, obvious; easily distinguishable or recognizable.
| a 1352 Minot Poems iii. 35 Þare he made his mone playne Þat no man suld say þare ogayne. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. cxvi, To a token pleyne, As of my teris cummyth all this reyne. 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) p. lxvii, Think that none their playne errour note. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lix. xi, Make it playne, That God..Rules all. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. i. 24 The moniments whereof there byding beene, As plaine as at the first when they were fresh and greene. 1660 Barrow Euclid i. vii, It is plain that AD is not equal to AC. 1736 Butler Anal. ii. iii. Wks. 1874. I. 190 Practical Christianity..is a plain and obvious thing. 1813 Scott Rokeby i. v, Now nigh and plain the sound appears. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 91 Let me make my meaning plainer in this way. |
5. That is clearly what the name expresses; open, manifest, direct, unmistakable; downright, mere, sheer, ‘flat’, absolute.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 929 (Cott.) For þou ne es but a pudre plain To puder sal þou worth a gain. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3504 Hope ye, Parys, playn þefte vnponysshet wilbe? 1535 Coverdale Eccl. i. 1 All is but vanite..all is but playne vanite. 1581 Rich Farew. Milit. Prof. (1846) 208 By plaine force [he] pulles hym doune on the flower. 1592 R. D. Hypnerotomachia 67 b, Wee ascended vp to the playne toppe. 1609 Bible (Douay) Gen. Brief Remonstr. 30 Easely confessed of al that are not plaine Atheists. 1643 in Dorothea Townshend Life & Lett. E. Porter xiii. 206 One throu plain fier went strait mad. 1669 Penn No Cross vii. §1 Whilst a plain Stranger to the Cross of Christ. 1833 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Pref. (1865) 236 He reaped plain unequivocal hatred. |
6. a. Of which the meaning is evident; simple, intelligible, readily understood.
| c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 362 Þis gospel telliþ a playen storie. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. xxvii. (Bodl. MS.), Sweuenes þat beþ trewe beth sommetyme openne and playne and sommetyme ywrapped vnder..derke tokenyngges. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 94 b, It ought to be vttered with playner wordes, to take awaye all ambiguitie. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. vii. §3 Can any thing be more plain then the graduall progress of Divine revelation from the beginning of the world? 1729 Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 65 Morality and religion must be somewhat plain and easy to be understood. 1861 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 80 Tell her distinctly what you want..in few plain words. |
b. transf. Said of the speaker or writer.
| 1555 Eden Decades 53, I had rather bee playne then curious. 1648 Milton Observ. Art. Peace Wks. 1851 IV. 555 Actions, of whatever sort, [are] thir own plainest Interpreters. 1867 Shedd Homiletics iii. (1869) 55 A plain writer or speaker makes the truth and the mind impinge upon each other. |
7. a. Not intricate or complicated; simple.
| 1659 Hoole Comenius' Vis. World (1672) 3 Plain sounds [simplices sonos] of which mans speech consisteth. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's 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. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia iii. iv, She determined..to place them in some cheap school, where they might be taught plain work. 1834 Bowring Minor Morals 145 The Jacquard loom..by which the most complicated patterns can be woven with the same ease as the plainest. 1895 Chamb. Jrnl. 21 Sept. 599/1 Fisher's machine was intended rather for embroidering than for plain sewing. |
b. Applied to knitting in knit-stitch or garter-stitch (see
garter n. 8). Also
quasi-n. = garter-stitch.
| 1861 Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 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 [see purl n.1 5]. 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. 1932 D. C. Minter Mod. Needlecraft 69/2 1st row: Knit plain. 2nd row: Purl. 1970 Guardian 24 Mar. 9/3 Cable stitch jacket, plain knit pants. 1978 A. Grey Chinese Assassin viii. 111 It might just as well be an extract from my granny's pearl and plain knitting book for all I can tell. |
III. 8. a. Without embellishment, addition, or decorative pattern or colouring; unembellished, not ornate; simple, bare, bald; (of the hair) worn straight, not curled; (of drawings, lithographs, etc.) not coloured. Also of a person's name: without addition or title. Also
fig.| [13.. Coer de L. 3631 Tyl he haue maad al playn werk Off thy clothes of gold, into thy serk [ed. scherk].] c 1386 Chaucer Frankl. Prol. 48, I lerned neuere Rethorik certeyn Thyng þat I speke it moot be bare and pleyn. 1459 Paston Lett. I. 489, ij playn borde clothys for my maister is table. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. xxii. 112 A faire cloth embrodered with leaues about it or els plaine. 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. iii. (1701) 88/1 A young Man,..describ'd by Plato, with long plain Hair. 1670 Lady M. Bertie in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 21 Most wore embraudered bodys with plaine black skirts of Morella Mohair and Prunella and such stuffs. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 117 Escutcheons of two Crosses, the one plain and the other Anchred. 1806–7 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) vi. i, Both figures being partly coloured and partly plain. 1828 Imperial Mag. X. 589 The doctor, or, as he now chose to designate himself, plain Thomas Beddoes. 1865 Lubbock Preh. Times 16 The celts are generally plain, but sometimes ornamented with ridges, dots, or lines. 1872 Hardy Under Greenw. Tree I. i. ii. 20 ‘Reub’, says he—'a always used to call me plain Reub, pore old heart! a 1907 Mod. Sets of picture-postcards, plain or coloured. 1914 G. B. Shaw Misalliance 12 He calls himself Plain John, but you can't call him that in his own office. |
† b. Without armour or weapons; unarmed.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 7564 Wit armes cums þou me again, And i agains þe al plain. |
c. Cards. (
a) Applied to the common as opposed to the picture cards. (
b) Not trumps.
| 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xvii, Court cards and plain cards of every denomination. 1862 ‘Cavendish’ Whist (1870) 29 Plain suits are suits not trumps. Ibid. (1886) 64 Ace, king, queen, knave, in plain suits. 1873 Routledge's Yng. Gentl. Mag. Jan. 94/1 ‘Court card’ or ‘plain card’, as the case may be. 1885 [see finesse v. 2 a]. 1899 [see echo n. 8]. 1936 [see cash v.2 1 b]. |
d. Plainly woven; not corded, twilled, or the like; without figured pattern;
transf. of muscle.
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Plain cloth, not twilled. 1895 Syd. Soc. Lex., Plain muscles, unstriated muscles, as opposed to striated muscles. |
e. Of envelopes, containers, etc.: giving no information as to sender or contents;
esp. in
phr. under plain cover. Also
transf. (of a motor vehicle) and
fig.| 1913 Maclean's Mag. Sept. 81/3 Write us for Catalogue ‘D’, sent free on application, in plain envelope. 1925 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Mar. 133/4 The sample will come in plain, unmarked wrapper. 1932 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 17 Jan. 20/1 Please send me in plain wrapper, prepaid, a copy of the complete unabridged edition of ‘Sane Sex Life and Sane Sex Living’ by Dr. Long. 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 {pstlg}100 Guarantee. 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.’ 1962 Sunday Times 11 Nov. 25/7 Much good has been done by the increasing enlightenment over the nature of sexuality which was a secondary aim of the Stopes/Ellis pioneers. The books which used to be sent under plain cover, now appear as Penguins. 1966 Wodehouse Plum Pie iv. 107 The two of them got away with the purloined objects, no doubt in a plain van. 1969 Listener 24 July 125/1 The husband..is secretly studying for O-levels while the nagging women think he is out boozing. When the results come through the post..his mother hides them because they're ‘under plain cover’ and she assumes the envelope conceals dirty books. 1971 W. J. Burley Guilt Edged i. 9 The goods [were] to be delivered in a plain van. Ibid. ii. 33 The Postures of Love (Thirty-five photographic plates. Send {pstlg}3. Delivered in a plain wrapper.) 1974 ‘J. Melville’ Nun's Castle iii. 58 [Pregnancy] tests..could be done..at home... It would be easy enough to..have the materials sent (in a plain cover, as the advertisements so kindly suggested). 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. 1975 L. Dills CB Slanguage Dict. 47 Plain brown (black, gray) wrapper, unmarked police car. |
9. Mus. (See
quots.)
| 1609 Douland Ornith. Microl. 3 Plaine Musicke..is a simple and vniforme prolation of Notes, which can neither be augmented nor diminished. 1872 O. Shipley Gloss. Eccl. Terms 6 The accent being..plain, i.e. monotone. |
10. Of simple composition or preparation; not compounded of many ingredients; not elaborate. Of food: Not rich or highly seasoned, simple.
plain bread and butter,
i.e. without the addition of preserves, etc.;
a plain tea, tea with plain bread and butter;
plain water, water without any infusion or addition.
| 1655 Culpepper. etc. Riverius vi. i. 131 A plainer Medicine is made of Plantane and Rose Water. 1668 Chas. II. in Julia Cartwright Henrietta of Orleans (1894) 263 The planer your diett is the better health you will have. 1784 M. Underwood Dis. Children (1799) I. 163 To chew a bit of bread [or] eat a bit of plain pudding. 1803 tr. P. Le Brun's Mons. Botte III. 153 It is singular that the Marquis d' Arancey should..partake of plain roast and boiled. 1879 Spectator 24 May 645 [As a] school-boy counts the currants in an unusually plain cake. 1883 Black Shandon Bells xv, The dinner was a plain one. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 21 Plain water, barley water, lemonade,..may be allowed at will to assuage the thirst. |
IV. 11. Open in behaviour; free from duplicity or reserve; guileless, honest, candid, frank.
Obs. exc. in sense ‘outspoken’.
| c 1374 Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 87 But he was double in love and nothing pleyne. c 1399 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 13 Bot wher the herte is plein withoute guile. 1418 Abp. Chichele in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. I. 5 Ȝe schol fynde hym a good man.., and pleyn to ȝu with owte feyntese. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour F j, Thenne sayd to her the good man whiche was a playn man and trewe. 1567 Harman Caveat 63 ‘Wel, I wyl tell the’, quoth this Chamberlayne. ‘I wylbe playne with the’. 1653 Walton Angler iii. 74, I wil sing a Song if any body wil sing another; else, to be plain with you, I wil sing none. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull iv. vi, I love to be plain. I'd as lief see myself in Ecclesdown Castle, as thee in Clay Pool! a 1718 Penn Wks. (1726) I. 320 Mordecai was too plain and stout and not Fine and Subtil enough to avoid the Displeasure of Haman. |
12. a. Free from ambiguity, evasion, or subterfuge; straightforward, direct.
In
plain truth there is often present the notion of ‘unvarnished, uncoloured’.
plain English: see C. below.
| c 1500 Melusine 193 Certaynly, my lord,..ye saye the playn trouth of it. 1513 More Rich. III (1883) 9 Flattery shall haue more place then plaine and faithfull aduyse. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 30 Thou shouldest make a playne and directe answere. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xxxvii. (1887) 161 Such..as haue preferred plaine trueth, before painted colours. 1695 Congreve Love for L. iv. v, Tell me in plain Terms what the Matter is with him, or I'll crack your Fool's Skull. 1776 Trial of Nundocomar 73/2 If you do not give a plain answer to a plain question, you will be committed. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiii. III. 286 The Scottish Estates used plain language, simply because it was impossible for them, situated as they were, to use evasive language. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. v. 462 Plain speech is never without its value. |
† b. absol. = Plain fact, plain state.
Obs.| c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 233 We moste endure this is the short and playn. 1463 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 301 Bothe parties to tell the playne of the matire. 1690 Locke Govt. i. ix. §86 Not to follow our A[uthor] too far out of the Way, the plain of the Case is this. |
V. 13. Having no special qualities or pretensions; not exceptionally gifted or cultured; ordinary, simple, unsophisticated; such as characterizes ordinary people.
| 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 102 What in my plaine conceit..may be thought most consonant and worthy. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. v. 62, I pray thee vnderstand a plaine man in his plaine meaning. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 165 ¶4 A Man of good Estate and plain Sense. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 35 To me, who am but a plain man, the proceeding looks a little too refined, and too ingenious. 1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. Pref. 15 A plain citizen of the republic of letters. 1899 W. R. Inge Chr. Mysticism vii. 256 There are two views of this sacrament [the Lord's Supper] which the ‘plain man’ has always found much easier to understand than the symbolic view which is that of our Church. |
14. Not distinguished by rank or position; belonging to the commonalty; lowly, common, ordinary.
| 1580 G. Harvey Let. to Spenser Wks. (Grosart) I. 84 No man but Minion, Stowte, Lowte, Plaine swayne, quoth a Lording. 1639 Fuller Holy War v. xxix. (1840) 294 Seeing within fourteen generations, the royal blood of the kings of Judah ran in the veins of plain Joseph, a painful carpenter. 1642 R. Carpenter Experience iii. iv. 28 The Gout; which we poore plaine people are ignorant of. 1742 Wesley Wks. (1830) I. 372, I preached to several hundred of plain people. 1890 Hosmer Anglo-Sax. Freedom 264 The admission in England of a vast body of the plain people to a share in the government. |
15. Of simple manners; homely, unaffected.
| 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 82 Being (as all the Germaines are) plaine and homely in their behauiour and intertainment. 1667 Pepys Diary 20 Sept., And indeed [she] is, as I always thought, one of the modestest, prettiest, plain women that ever I saw. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. 106 This same plain blunt Sea-Animal..in his Tar-Jacket and Wide Knee'd Trowzers. 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’. |
16. Simple in dress or habits; clothed or living plainly; not luxurious or ostentatious; frugal.
| 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 632 He is about thirtie sixe yeares, very ciuill and plaine in habite. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 232 The old men went plaine; the young mens habit was rich. 1663 Cowley Verses & Ess., Avarice (1669) 130 The old plain way, ye Gods, let me be Poor. 1700 Dryden Charac. Gd. Parson 101 The holy father holds a double reign, The prince may keep his pomp, the fisher must be plain. 1871 Blackie Four Phases i. 6 His habits of life were remarkably plain and frugal. |
17. Of ordinary appearance; not beautiful or well-favoured; homely: often used euphemistically for ill-favoured, ugly.
| 1749 Fielding Tom Jones i. viii, A general and bitter invective against beauty..with many compassionate considerations for all honest, plain girls. 1796 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. xxvi, Handsome young men must have something to live on, as well as the plain. 1838 Baroness Bunsen in Hare Life 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’. |
VI. Phrases.
18. Plain is emphasized by various comparisons,
orig. applicable in particular senses, but afterwards humorously or irrationally applied to others;
a. esp. plain as a pikestaff (earlier packstaff).
| 1542–1691 [see packstaff]. 1591– [see pikestaff]. c 1622 Ford, etc. Witch Edmonton ii. i, Saw. I understand thee not; be plain, my son Cud. As a pike-staff, mother. 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 103 In..Scotland..Religion is..pure and spotlesse without ceremonie, and plain as a pike staffe without a surplise. c 1685 Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Conf. Wks. 1705 II. 37, I see, as plain as a pike staff, that 'tis no thing but a Cork. 1834 Hood Tylney Hall (1840) 379 You've got my meaning as plain as a pikestaff. a 1873 Lytton Ken. Chillingly ii. ix. (1878) 106 She is as plain as a pikestaff. 1894 Pall Mall Mag. Sept. 37 There was my own spoor as plain as a pikestaff. |
b. Also,
plain as a packsaddle,
plain as print,
plain as the nose on († in) one's face,
plain as the sun at noonday,
plain as Salisbury (pun on Salisbury Plain),
plain as way to parish-church, etc. See also
Dunstable 1 b, c.
| [1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. ii. 179 b, Thom trouthe, or plain Sarisbuirie.] 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 143 An honeste true dealyng seruant out of doubte, plaine as a packe⁓saddle..though his witte was simple. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 52 And why sir must they so? The why is plaine, as way to Parish Church. 1695 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. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xlii, ‘Why’, said Mr. Roker, ‘it's as plain as Salisbury’. 1879 Froude Cæsar xi. 121 It was plain as the sun at midday. 1895 Crockett in Cornh. Mag. Dec. 581 A look which said as plain as print, ‘Have you not had enough?’ 1903 G. B. Shaw Man & Superman ii. 69 Why, it's as plain as the nose on your face. If you aint spotted that, you dont know much about these sort of things. 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. 1940 Wodehouse Quick Service xiii. 166, I see it all. They're pals. It's as plain as the nose on your face. 1958 D. Garnett Shot in Dark vii. 86 ‘But how did you find out?’ ‘It is as plain as the nose on your face.’.. ‘Yes. But most people don't see the nose on their face. The obvious is what is overlooked.’ 1979 K. Bonfiglioli After you with Pistol xiv. 99 The facts are as plain as the nose on your face. |
† 19. a. at plain,
in (Sc. into) plain,
unto the plain: plainly, in plain terms, etc.
b. plain at the eye: plain to be seen, evident.
Obs.| c 1400 Rom. Rose 5663 It is maked mencioun Of oure countre pleyn at the eye. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 7 Þer of I schalle speke more in playn. 1444 in Wars Eng. in France (Rolls) I. 463 By..whiche..it may appere unto you more at plain. c 1450 Holland Howlat 211 The archdene, that ourman, ay prechand in plane, Correker of kirkmen was clepit the Claik. 1486 Bk. St. Albans E vj, When ye se vnto the playne her at the last..Say, la douce amy la est a. 1513 Douglas æneis i. vi. 36 Trewlie, maidin, in plane, Nane of thi sisteris did I heir ne se. 1600 W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 117 [He told] him in plaine, the case was altered. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 758 In plain then, what forbids he but to know, Forbids us good, forbids us to be wise? |
B. adv. (Various adverbial uses of the
adj.)
I. † 1. In a flat, level, or even position; evenly.
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §127 Yf the bowes wyll not lye playne in the hedge, than cut it the more halfe asonder & bynde it in to the hedge. 1642 H. More Song of Soul ii. iii. iii. lxvii, What's the cause That they thus stagger in the plain-pav'd skie? |
2. With clearness of expression; without circumlocution or ambiguity, clearly, intelligibly, candidly.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 129 As it is innermore pleyn i-write [sicut inferius..planum erit]. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 105 Withoute which, to telle plein, Alle othre science is in vein. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 315 That I haue said I sall hald, and that I tell the plane. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 272 Sir to tell you plaine, I'le finde a fairer face not washt to day. 1607 S. Collins Serm. (1608) 13 If you will haue one speake plainer..than S. Paul heere doth. 1850 J. H. Newman Diffic. Anglic. 318 Soon others began to speak plainer than he. |
3. With clearness or distinctness of perception or utterance; clearly, manifestly, evidently.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 16 Ay wont in desert darknes to remaine, Where plain none might her see, nor she see any plaine. 1784 New Spectator No. 22. 3 Did not Torquato Tasso speak plain at six months old? 1841 Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life III. viii. 130 The part plainest to be seen was the figure as it rose and sank above the paling. a 1861 Mrs. Browning Mother & Poet v, I made them..Speak plain the word country. |
4. Simply, absolutely, purely.
| 1535 Coverdale Bible Ded., Christes admynistracion was nothyng temporall, but playne spirituall. 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 18 Whiche either Naturall reason proueth either to bee plaine false, or the experience of man declareth to bee vntrue. c 1591 in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 78 The Russe government is plaine tirannycall. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. i. 97 marg., The Scottis bordirers to tile the land plane abhoris. 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.’ 1956 B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) xviii. 151, I had gained so much weight and I just plain didn't look like the girl who had left town ten months before. 1959 J. L. Austin Sense & Sensibilia (1962) i. 5 Besides, there is nothing so plain boring as the constant repetition of assertions that are not true. 1973 Times 13 Nov. 6/6 This myth that..we were just being plain difficult about Sandhurst was another very irritating criticism. 1976 Bridgewater Mercury 21 Dec. 10/4 Others may have family problems, housing difficulties—or are just plain lonely. 1979 Guardian 8 Jan. 2/8 Mrs. Thatcher..dismissed claims that taxation of benefits would be impossible to administer... ‘I just plain don't believe it.’ |
† 5. In other senses of the
adj. Obs.| c 1470 Harding Chron. liii. v, Within .iiii. wekes was all this done full playn. c 1475 Partenay 920 Many ladyes..Went to a company with the Countesse plain, Ech welcomyng hir after ther degre. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) iv. 78 Or scho war kissit plane, Scho leir be japit thryiss. 1807–8 Syd. Smith Plymley's Lett. x. Wks. 1859 II. 175/2 He dresses plain, loves hunting and farming. |
II. It is not clear whether the following belong to this word or to
plain a.
2, F.
plein.
† 6. Entirely, quite; ? fully.
= clean adv. 5.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 14025 He was passed þe mountes pleyn. c 1450 Holland Howlat 74, I will appele to the Pape, and pass till him plane. c 1460 Play Sacram. 137, I praye the goo wele pleyn thorowght All eraclea. c 1500 New Not-br. Mayd 119, I, that hym bought, Shall be expoulsed playne. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 132, I haif na mycht, Me to defend Fra hellis pane, bot gif thow plane Me succour send. |
† 7. Directly, due; ? full.
Obs.| 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xxxvi. (Percy Soc.) 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. c 1540 Boorde The boke for to Lerne B ij b, Better it is..that y wyndowes do open playne north, than playne south. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. v. 111 [The savages] were confined to a neck of land surrounded with high rocks behind them, and lying plain towards the sea before them. |
C. Combinations.
a. With the
adj.: chiefly parasynthetic, as
plain-bodied,
plain-clothed,
plain-faced (also
fig.),
plain-featured,
plain-garbed, etc.; also
plain-looking. See also
plain-hearted.
| 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan II. 109 The martial, plain-looking stranger. 1851 Ruskin Stones Ven. (1874) I. xx. 223 The fish..are always plain bodied creatures in the best mediæval sculpture. 1882 ‘Ouida’ Maremma I. i. 18 A plain-featured, clear-skinned woman. 1893 Gunter Miss Dividends 186 Respect for all women, young or old, beautiful or plain-faced. 1928 Weekly Dispatch 24 June 22/2 Thus what seems a plain-faced stroke is full of guile. 1938 W. de la Mare Memory 61 A solemn plain-faced child. 1963 Times 11 May 11/5 Small plain-faced towns. |
b. With the
adv., as
plain-bound,
plain-cut (example
fig.),
plain-dressing,
plain-going,
plain-meaning,
plain-pranked,
plain-seeming,
plain-woven. See also plain-dealer, -dealing, -speaking, -spoken.
| 1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Loue 2 Playne meaning men walk openly at noone. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. ii. Babylon 655 His plain-prankt stile he strengthens in such sort. 1830 Miss Mitford Village Ser. iv. (1863) 252 As active, and as plain-dressing..at forty-five as she was at nineteen. 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 Stevenson & Osbourne Ebb-Tide i. v. 96, I never could act up to the plain-cut truth, you see; so I pretend. 1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage i. 19 The embroidery completely alters the original plain⁓woven texture of the material. |
c. Special combs.:
plain-back,
-backs, weavers' name for a kind of worsted fabric;
plain bearing Engin., a bearing consisting of a cylindrical hole in a block;
Plain Bob Campanology, a method of change-ringing in which the treble works in continuous
plain hunt;
plain chocolate, eating chocolate (
chocolate 2) made without the addition of milk (
cf. milk chocolate (
b));
plain clothes, ordinary civil or citizen dress, unofficial dress, mufti; now
esp. the dress of members of a police detective force;
opp. to
uniform; also
attrib., as
plain-clothes constable,
plain clothes officer; also
transf., a plain-clothes policeman, a detective; hence
plain-clothed adj.;
plainclothesman,
plainclothes man, a plain-clothes policeman, a detective;
plain-compass, a simple form of the surveyor's compass (Knight
Dict. Mech. 1875);
plain cook n., a person, usually a woman, capable of preparing simple dishes;
plain-cook v. intr., to do plain cooking;
plain-darn v. trans., to mend by plain darning;
† plain-down adv., plainly, bluntly, without more ado;
† plain Dunstable: see
Dunstable 1 c;
plain-edge a., of lace: not having a pearl-edge (
Cent. Dict. 1890);
plain English, plain straightforward language, plain terms; also, a plain or clear statement;
plain Friend (see
quot.);
plain hackle, an artificial fly;
plainhead, name given to a variety of the canary; also
attrib., as
plainhead canary,
plainhead strain (
opp. to
crested);
plain-headed a., having a smooth or unornamented head; also
fig. ignorant, simple;
plain hunt Campanology [
hunt n.2 3 and v. 7], a regular path taken by a bell from first position to last and back again; hence
plain hunting vbl. n.;
Plain Jane,
plain Jane, (a name applied to) an unattractive or ill-favoured girl or woman; also
transf.; also (
freq. with hyphen)
attrib. passing into adj.;
plain language,
spec., (
a) the manner of speech used by Quakers; (
b)
= plain text (
b) below;
plain man,
spec., one who is not, or is not thinking in the manner of, a philosopher;
† plain number, a number produced by two factors (
plane a. 1 b);
Plain people,
plain people U.S., the Amish, Mennonites, and Dunkards;
plain-said a., spoken without reserve, straightforward;
plain sail Naut., sail ordinarily carried;
plain saw v. trans., to produce (a board) by plain sawing; so
plain-sawed,
plain-sawn ppl. adjs.;
plain sawing vbl. n., the method or action of producing boards by sawing a log tangential to the growth rings, so that the rings make angles of less than 45° with the faces of the boards;
plain service, divine service said without music;
plain sewing, (
a)
Needlework (see
quot. 1882); (
b) applied to a particular kind of homosexual behaviour in which masturbation or mutual masturbation takes place;
plain sight: see
quot.;
plain-singing = plain-song;
plain text Cryptanalysis, (
a) a text not in cipher or code; (
b) (as
plaintext) uncoded language;
plain weave (see
quot. 1940); also
attrib. See also
plain-chant,
plain sailing,
plain-song, plain-stones, plain-tile,
plain-work.
| 1830 in Bischoff Woollen Manuf. (1842) II. 270 The principal manufacture, viz. 44 inch *plain-backs. 1842 J. Bischoff Ibid. 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. |
| 1917 Engineering 9 Nov. 503/1 The worms..are supported in their cases by two ball journal or *plain bearings. 1941 L. S. Marks Mech. Engineers' Handbk. (ed. 4) 1016 Plain bearings, according to their function, may be (1) Journal bearings... (2) Thrust bearings... (3) Guide bearings. 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. |
| 1702 J. D. & C. M. Campanalogia Improved 50 (heading) Grandsire Bob commonly called *plain Bob. 1788 W. Jones et al. Clavis Campanalogia 39 Having laid down plain and easy rules for ringing Plain Bob and calling eighteen-score, we shall next proceed to the 720. 1879 [see method n. 3 e]. 1931 E. Morris Hist. & Art 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’. 1965 Plain Bob [see method n. 3 e]. |
| 1895 Army & Navy Co-op Soc. Price List 11/1 (heading) Chocolate... Menier's, *Plain..1/3½. 1914 H. Ashton First from Front xiv. 96 The people in the houses came out and cheered and gave us plain chocolate, fruit, and beer. 1948 Good Housek. Cookery Bk. 652 For chocolate dipping, couverture chocolate (i.e., covering chocolate, which is good quality plain block chocolate, containing an adequate proportion of cocoa butter) should be used. 1976 K. Thackeray Crownbird ii. 27 Her skin was dark and smooth, the colour of plain chocolate. |
| a 1966 M. Allingham Cargo of Eagles (1968) iii. 40 The *plain clothed Sergeant Throstle. 1975 K. Macksey Partisans of Europe xi. 182 His staffs should place more faith in the parachute and commando formations of proven reliability..in effect putting their trust in cool, uniformed quality before hotheaded, plain⁓clothed quantity. |
| 1822 T. Creevey in 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. 1825 H. Wilson Mem. II. 153, I could not reconcile it to my mind that he should wear regimentals... A gentleman always looks so much better in plain clothes. 1836 Marryat Midsh. Easy xxxv, He laid out a portion of his gold in a suit of plain clothes. 1842 C. Fox Jrnl. 1 June (1972) 127 Her Majesty..ordered a double number of police in their plain clothes to be stationed in the Park. 1852 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 206 Policemen..in plain clothes, and in uniform. 1866 Mayne Reid Headless Horseman xii. 67 Like a plain⁓clothes policeman employed on detective duty. 1881 Daily News 22 Aug. 3/2 Plain-clothes officer Hutt was watching the premises. 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. 1926 Galsworthy Escape 14 Girl. Who are you? Plain Clothes Man. Plain clothes. 1929 S. Leslie Anglo-Catholic iii. 41 ‘Do you ever come across the police?’ ‘More often than I care, and the plain-clothes are the worst.’ 1955 Times 1 Aug. 7/6, I, for one, would welcome the presence of such plain-clothes patrols. 1962 ‘K. Orvis’ Damned & Destroyed xxiv. 176 A Mountie plain⁓clothes tapped me on the shoulder. 1964 Granta 2 Nov. 152, I was rather surprised on entering the Proctors' rooms to find also in attendance a plain-clothes policeman wearing his raincoat indoors. 1972 Nature 18 Feb. 400/2 Two men in plain clothes came up to Sakharov and asked for his identity papers. 1977 New Yorker 9 May 148/2 Fran{cced}ois Eugène Vidocq..invented the plainclothes detective. |
| 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. 1962 Punch 21 Nov. 751/1 Truncheoned bobbies and macintoshed ruthless plain⁓clothesmen of Scotland Yard. 1969 R. D. Pharr in A. Chapman New Black Voices (1972) 68 The plainclothesman picked them up... When he got in the car the detective in the driver's seat asked. ‘What'd he say?’ 1975 J. F. Burke Death Trick (1976) iii. 34 Several uniformed cops and some plainclothesmen were grouped around the entrance. 1977 Time 7 Mar. 6/2 As a crowd gathered, four plainclothesmen collared Amalrik and removed him bodily. |
| 1809 Malkin Gil Blas ii. i. ¶5 Leonarda..passed for a very decent *plain cook. 1840 Marryat Olla Podr. (Rtldg.) 265 A good plain cook is the best thing. |
| 1886 Daily News Apr., General Servant Wanted. Must *plain-cook well. |
| 1880 Plain Hints Needlework 52 To *plain-darn a hole in stocking material, and mark on coarse material any two letters. c 1622 Fletcher Prophetess iii. ii, Is it fit..The emperor, my master Dioclesian, Should now remember or the times or manners That call'd him plain-down Diocles? |
| a 1500 Chaucer's Dreme 59 Which ye shalle here..In *pleyne Englische, evil written. 1614 B. Jonson Bart. Fair iv. iii, But Adam Ouerdoo had beene worth three of 'hem, I assure you, in this place, that's in plaine english. 1645, 1705 [see english B 4.]. 1693 Humours Town 56 The Boon Companion, that is in plain English, a Rake-hell, is much caress'd. 1868 Report to Govt. U.S. Munitions War 107 If we double the thickness, the outside..will be but one twenty-fifth as useful, or in plain English, nearly useless. |
| 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. |
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 202 That the commons..were too *plaine headed to say their opinions. 1888 F. G. Lee in Archæologia LI. 363 Holding a book..and a plain-headed staff. |
| 1874 W. Banister Art & Sci. Change Ringing 14 The treble works in continuous *plain hunt; whilst the other bells hunt, make places, and dodge. |
| Ibid. 22 Each bell has a plain *hunting course, except when treble leads. 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. This word ‘hunt’ is used in the sense of course or path or way among the other bells. Starting from rounds..each bell follows a regular path among the others. Ibid. 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. Ibid. 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. |
| 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. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 121 Daughter working the machine in the parlour. Plain Jane, no damn nonsense. 1936 C. Day Lewis Friendly Tree i. 11 It was the plain-Jane, methodical part of herself. 1953 Newsweek 23 Mar. 74/1 Takarazuka girl players, living like priestesses, are virtually adored by their plain-Jane sisters throughout Japan. 1956 People 13 May 6/3 Put a Gorgeous Gussie among a group of Plain Janes..and a whole office or factory routine can be upset. 1957 New Yorker 16 Nov. 158/2 Jewelled clasps to enliven worthy but plain-Jane necklaces and bracelets are the specialty of Marjorie Raven. 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 15 Aug. (‘Books in a Changing World’ Suppl.) p. xxxi/4 It is very hard to know how children reared on the plain Jane vocabulary of the books written for them to-day can ever enter the territory where language is allowed to branch and flower into exuberance. 1970 ‘R. Llewellyn’ But we didn't get Fox iii. 34 An enormous American aircraft carrier in plain-jane grey. 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. |
| 1827 Mrs. B. Hall Let. 16 Dec. in Aristocratic Journey (1931) xi. 151 The family are Quakers, and the old couple adhere rigidly to the *plain dress and the plain language as they call what the French term ‘tutoyer’ implies. 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 Convention & 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. 1940 Tablet 4 May 419 The..Soviet Embassy's plain language telegram. 1973 H. Gruppe Truxton Cipher 213 The message, sent Immediate—Plain Language over Navy circuits, lay upon his..desk top. Ibid. 221 Our convoys had firm orders to disregard plain-language traffic. |
| 1896 L. T. Hobhouse Theory of Knowl. 15 The ‘*plain man’ would probably agree with Locke that no further proof could be given. 1904 G. S. Fullerton Syst. Metaphysics xvii. 263 One cannot expect the plain man to realize clearly all that his doctrine implies. 1934 A. C. Ewing Idealism vii. 294 The plain man asserts that the table in his dining-room is square. 1948 B. Russell Human Knowl. 193 At the moment, I notice my dog asleep, and as a plain man I am convinced that I could have noticed him any time last hour. 1978 J. Pearson Fa{cced}ades vi. 111 Arnold Bennett..had a plain man's taste for what was new in poetry and art. |
| 1728–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v., 20 is a *plain number, produced by the multiplication of 5 into 4. |
| 1904 H. R. Martin Tillie 113 But can't you see the inconsistentness of the *plain people? 1929 Sat. Even. Post 23 Mar. 165/1 You found it in your heart for to join the Plain People, didn't you, Carlie? 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. 1975 Budget (Sugarcreek, Ohio) 20 Mar. 8/5 Both Bro. David Wagler and his wife are plain people. They work helping this organization to distribute Bibles, hymn books and concordances behind the Iron Curtain. |
| 1865 Macgregor Rob Roy in Baltic (1867) 249 A very useful and *plain-said conversation. |
| 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay xxi, We should..keep..under a *plain sail. 1857 C. Gribble in Merc. Marine Mag. (1858) V. 9 Made all plain-sail. |
| 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. |
| 1931 Younger & Ward Airplane Construction & Repair vi. 98 The advantages of *plain-sawed lumber [over quarter-sawn] are: 1. It is cheaper to cut. 2. If knots are present, they are round instead of spiked. |
| Ibid., 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. 1968 F. Hilton Craft Technol. for Carpenters & Joiners i. 18 This plain sawing is usually the cheapest form of conversion. |
| 1949 Gloss. Terms Timber (B.S.I.) 7 Flat-sawn timber, timber converted so that the growth rings meet the face in any part at an angle of less than 45°. (*Plain-sawn, slash grain, flat grain). 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. 1966 A. W. Lewis Gloss. Woodworking Terms 18 Boards sawn tangentially to the growth rings are known as through-and-through sawn, plain sawn, slash cut, or flat sawn. |
| 1862 E. Waugh in Manchester Examiner & Times 26 Aug. 7/1 Part of the time each day is set apart for reading and writing; the rest of the day is devoted to knitting and *plain sewing. 1882 Caulfield & Saward Dict. Needlework 394/2 Plain sewing, a term denoting any description of Needlework which is of a merely useful character in contradistinction to that which is purely decorative. 1895 [see sense A. 7]. 1926 A. Huxley Let. 10 Aug. (1969) 272 What she [sc. Anita Loos] really likes doing, it appears, is plain sewing; spends all her holidays in making underclothes which nobody can wear. 1941 F. Thompson Over to Candleford ix. 137 Plain sewing was still looked upon as an important part of a girl's education. 1969 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. 1971 Observer 7 Nov. (Colour Suppl.) 35/4 One of my [sc. W. H. Auden's] great ambitions is to get into the OED, as the first person to have used in print a new word. I have two candidates at the moment, which I used in my review of J. R. Ackerley's autobiography. They are ‘Plain-Sewing’ and ‘Princeton-First-Year’. They refer to two types of homosexual behaviour. 1979 P. Fitzgerald Offshore vii. 80 The nuns..in a class known as plain sewing, had taught her..darning, patching, reinforcing collars with tape. 1980 Times Lit. Suppl. 21 Mar. 324/5, I suspect ‘Plain-Sewing’ to be Auden's own invention, but its meaning is fairly clear, as it involves a pun on ‘sowing’ (seed or semen) and a reference to the two-and-fro [sic] action of the hand in sewing. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., *Plain Sight (Fire-arms), a hind sight consisting of a simple notch in a raised plate or protuberance. |
| 1795 Mason Ch. Mus. iii. 164 It therefore could only be called *plain singing or chaunting, which, perhaps, is the best translation of the term planus cantus. |
| 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. 1932 Cryptogram Aug. 1/2 A letter or a symbol is substituted for each letter in the original message. (Hereafter we shall refer to the original message as the plain-text.) 1939 H. S. M. Coxeter Ball's Math. Recreations & Ess. (ed. 11) xiv. 381 If the characters of the plain-text message are merely rearranged without suffering any change in identity..the system is called transposition. 1967 D. Kahn Codebreakers (1968) xiv. 435 The cryptanalysts of the German Foreign Office..had reduced it to plaintext at once. 1972 Sci. Amer. Nov. 117/2 Although it is a defect of Bacon's system that a cipher text must be five times as long as the plaintext, a remarkable merit of the system is that more than one message can be hidden in the same cipher text. |
| 1940 Chamber's Techn. Dict. 649/1 *Plain weave.., the simplest interlacing of warp and weft threads. Each warp thread is alternately over and under the weft, while adjacent warp threads work opposite to each other. 1956 Textile Res. Jrnl. XXVI. 837/1 The fabric employed..was an 80 × 80 plain weave cotton of about 3½ oz. to the square yard. 1962 J. T. Marsh Self-Smoothing Fabrics xi. 155 The effect of mercerising has also been investigated by Smith..who employed 10% of methoxymethyl-urea on a plain-weave cotton fabric. |
▪ IV. † plain, a.2 Obs. Forms: 4–5
plein,
-e, 4–6
playn(e,
pleyn(e,
Sc. plane, 5–7
plene,
plain(e.
[ME. plein, playn, a. F. plein (plain):—L. plēnus full. In
OF. plein and
plain were confused in certain phrases,
esp. in
plein (or
plain)
champ: see Littré. From the running together of forms in
Eng., still greater ambiguity attaches to certain uses: see
plain adv. 6, 7 (above).]
1. Full, plenary, entire, perfect.
plain pace: at full speed.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 10615 Now ys Arthur of pleyn age. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 3844 Crist gave to Peter playn powere. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 302 Man neden not to go to Rome to gete hem plein indulgence. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 3082 Thurgh the hal sir Ywain gase, Intil ane orcherd playn pase. 1425 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 304/1 Pleine restitution and deliverance of þaire obligations. 1450 Ibid. V. 194/2 That our Letters Patentz..stand in theire strenght and plene effect. 1461 Paston Lett. II. 27 For my playn acquitayll. 1481 Caxton Myrr. iii. vi. 140 The sonne leseth his clerenes & the lyght in the playn daye. 1495 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 503/1 As if the said Fraunces or his heyres were in pleyne lyfe. 1544 tr. Littleton's Tenures (1574) 22 The age..of xxi yeare, whyche is called plaine or full age. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. l. 197 The City had been assaulted five times in plain-day. |
¶The following may belong here, or to some sense of
plain a.
1| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2614 Ful is the place of soun of menstralsye..As thylke tyme was the pleyne vsage. |
2. Full or complete in number, extent, etc.;
esp. of a council, assembly, or court.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 253 What þe clergie wild schape, whan þe courte were pleyn. 1375 Barbour Bruce xix. 49 The lord sowlis haf grantit thar The deid in-to plane parliament. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 337 In pleyn consistorie þe pope cursede Waldrada. 1459 Rolls of Parlt. V. 356/2 By thassent..of Prelats [etc.] in his plain Parlement. 1499 Exch. Rolls Scotl. XI. 395 To the forrestaris in the plane court in the tolbouth of Edinburgh. Ibid. 396 Grantande..full plane poware. 1514–15 Act 6 Hen. VIII, c. 4 In the full and pleyne shire courte. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xiv. 14 The whiche was redde openly in playn audience. 1589 Reg. Privy Council Scot. IV. 384 [The King's Majesty] sittand in plane Parliament [had ratified the Act]. 1671 R. MacWard True Nonconf. 231 King Charles the first, did in plene Parliament, An. 1641{ddd}ratifie the Nationall Covenant. 1677 Cary Chronol. i. i. i. vii. 18 There remains for the number of plene Months 125. |
3. In phrase
in plain battle (
combat,
joust,
war), in regular open battle, etc.
With this was evidently associated the phrase
in plain field (F.
en plein or
plain champ), although this may have belonged
orig. to
plain a.
1 3 b.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 3760 Morpydus..angerly gan hym assaille, & þer hym slow in pleyn bataille. 1375 Barbour Bruce xviii. 79 Our maner is,..Till follow and ficht, and ficht fleand, And nocht till stand in plane melle Quhill the ta part discumfit be. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 130 He faught and slough hym manly as a knyght In pleyn bataille. 1470–85 Malory Arthur x. xviii. 442 And of these twelue Knyghtes he slewe in playne Iustes four. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 209 To wete yf he wold make playne warre. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xlii. 142 Fynde .ii. champyons..that for thy loue wyll fyght with me in playne batayle. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks i. (1621) 4 Whom he was not able to encounter in plaine battell. a 1718 Penn Tract Wks. 1726 I. 577 In a plain Combat giving him that Foyl. |
4. Characterized by abundance
of; full
of.
rare—1.
| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 435/2 He sheweth hym self playne of contricion. |
¶ For possible adverbial uses, see
plain adv. 6, 7, which may in part belong here.
▪ V. plain, v. arch. or
dial. (
pleɪn)
Forms: 3–6
pleine, 3–7
playne,
plaine, 4
pleign(e, 4–6
pleyn(e,
plene,
plane, 5
plany, 5–6
playn, 6–
plain, (6, 8–9
dial. plean, 8–9
dial. pleen,
pleean). β. 4
pleny;
Sc. 4–7
plenȝe, 5
pleinȝhe, 6
plenȝie,
-yie, (
-zie),
pleinye,
-ȝe,
-ȝie,
planyie,
plainȝie, (
-yie,
-zie).
[ME. plei(g)ne, playne, plenȝe, a. OF. plaign-, stem of plaindre (plaignre, plaingre) to lament, refl. to complain:—L. plangĕre to beat (the breast), lament, from root plag- strike. So It. piangere, piagnere, Pr. planher, Sp. plañir. The Sc. forms retained the sound of Fr. gn (ɲ),
repr. by
-ny,
-nyh,
-nȝ (in 16th c. print
-nz). The
vb. was both
intr. and
trans. already in L.; the earliest (11th c.)
OF. examples in Littré are
trans. and
refl.; the latter arises more naturally out of the
trans.]
† 1. trans. To give oral expression to grief on account of or for (some thing or person); to bewail, deplore, lament, mourn (the external cause, or the inward sorrow or pain);
= complain v. 1.
Obs.| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 222 Sir Guy Baliol died þore..He was pleyned more þan oþer tuenty. 14.. Tundale's Vis. 582 Gretand with a dolfulle crye, And playned his synne ful petously. 1503 Dunbar Thistle & Rose 31 Thai haif moir causs to weip and plane thair sorrow. 1596 Spenser Astroph. Prol., Shepheards, that wont..Oft times to plaine your loves concealed smart. 1617 W. Becher in Camden's Lett. (1691) 207, I did many times plain my ill hap. 1757 E. Griffith Lett. Henry & Frances (1767) I. 261, I only..plain the misfortune of not having made the first impression on your heart. |
† 2. refl. To utter lamentations, bewail oneself:
= complain v. 2.
Obs.| 13.. Seuyn Sag. (W.) 832 Pleined him of his mochel wo. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 2540 Þarfor Saint Bernard pleyned him here Of his lyf. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. xl, I sawe..new cummyn hir to pleyne,..the freschest ȝonge floure. c 1550 R. Bieston Bayte Fortune B iij, To plaine hym nought auayleth. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. xii. lxxiv, Thus with glad sorrow did she sweetly plain her. 1710 Philips Pastorals i. 8 A Shepherd Boy..Thus plain'd him of his dreary Discontent. |
3. intr. To give oral utterance to sorrow; to lament, mourn;
= complain v. 3. Now
poet. and
dial.| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3576 Mest in is herte was uor anguysse to playne. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3471 Playnond with pytie. a 1547 Surrey in Tottell's Misc. (Arb.) 3, I wish for night, more couertly to playn. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia ii. (1598) 118 Though he plaine, he doth not complaine; for it is a harme, but no wrong, which he hath receiued. 1613 W. Browne Brit. Past. i. i, She loves not him that plaineth, but that pleaseth. 1710 Philips Pastorals ii. 13 Small Cause, I ween, has lusty Youth to plain. 1865 Lowell L'Envoi Poet. Wks. (1879) 457 The Muse is womanish, nor deigns Her love to him that pules and plains. |
| β 1375 Barbour Bruce iv. 215 Thus plenȝeit he off his folye. |
b. = complain v. 4.
dial.| 1863 Mrs. Toogood Yorks. Dial., He seemed verra ill, he pleaned a good deal. 1898 Kirkby Lakeland Wds. (E.D.D.), She pleens a gay deal aboot her heed. |
4. To give utterance to feelings of ill-usage or injury;
= complain v. 5, 6, 8.
† a. refl. Obs.| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 504 He ne dorste him naȝt pleine. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 16144 Penda..pleyned hym vnto Cadwalyn. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 388 Þai hadden no more nede to plene hem of þis ordenaunce þan hadden þe oþer two statis of his chirche. 1590 Marlowe Edw. II, v. i, To plain me to the gods against them both. 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. iii. vii. 69, I will go plaine me to my Lord the King. |
| β 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 163, I suld plenȝe me till his juge, and ask rycht and law of him. |
b. intr. To make complaint. Const.
of, against, on, upon, that{ddd}.
poet. (
arch.) and
dial.| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 765 To is doȝter quene of cornwaile gan wende [Lear] & plainede of þe unkundhede of his doȝter gornorille. c 1440 Gesta Rom. viii. 22 (Harl. MS.) Than þe soule shall pleyne vpon þe flesh. 1612 Dekker If it be not good Wks. 1873 III. 318 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. 1808 Scott Marm. vi. xiii, ‘Though something I might plain’, he said, ‘Of cold respect to stranger guest’. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Plean, to complain. An old word. 1876 Whitby Gloss., Plain, to complain. |
| β 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 548 Þenne þe fyrst bygonne to pleny & sayden þat þay hade travayled sore. 1375 Barbour Bruce xi. 320 His fayis to plenȝe sall mater haf. 1412 in Laing Charters (1899) 24 The forsaide lorde..sal abide the prouincialis cumyng, and sal pleinȝhe til him. c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. vi. (Sheep & Dog) xiii, Vp rais the dog, and on the scheip thus pleinyeit. 1499 Exch. Rolls Scotl. XI. 395 It is plenyeit that the..induellaris within the bondis about the said forrest distroyis the wod and der grettumlie. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 618 Suppois he had bot litill caus to plenȝe. 1567 Satir. Poems Reform. (S.T.S.) vii. 55 Pleinȝeand that sho was rauyssit by [= against] hir will. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. xviii. xvii. (S.T.S.) I. 81 Mony seand place gevin to men that pleissit to pleinzie, begane day by day more and more to compleine wpoun his tyrannie. |
c. To tell tales, inform (
against,
on).
dial.| 1781 J. Hutton Tour to Caves Gloss. (E.D.S.), Plean, to tell tales against a person. 1828 Craven Gloss. (ed. 2), Plean, to tell tales. 1892 M. C. F. Morris Yorksh. Folk-Talk 354 He gans tiv his maasther ti pleean on him. |
d. trans. To complain of;
= complain v. 7.
dial.| 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss. s.v., They are always plaining poverty. |
5. transf. and
fig. intr. To emit a plaintive or mournful sound;
= complain v. 9.
| a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 23 Come with your doleful songs, Night's sable birds, which plain when others sleep. 1783 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Odes to R. Acad. iii, Nature 'plaineth sore. 1809 Campbell Gertr. Wyom. ii. xii, And nought..was heard or seen But stock⁓doves plaining through its gloom profound. a 1835 Motherwell Madman's Love Poems (1847) 47 With selfsame voice the old woods playne, When shrilly winds do blow. 1884 M. Linskill in Gd. Words 15 The wind went on wuthering wildly, sobbing, raging, plaining over the barren moor. |
b. trans. To say in a querulous tone.
| 1901 G. Douglas Ho. w. Green Shutters 296 ‘It would be the wind’, plained her mother. |
† c. intr. Of a horse: To whine, whinny.
rare—1.
| c 1374 Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 157 Right as an hors that can boothe byte & pleyne. |
† d. (See
quot.)
Obs. rare—1.
| 1611 Cotgr., Duner, to plaine, as a horse, that neither halteth outright, nor setteth his foot hard on the ground. |
▪ VI. plain obs. form of
plane v.