▪ I. plan, n.
(plæn)
[a. F. plan (1553 in Hatz.-Darm.) a plane (surface), also, a ground-plan, subst. use of plan, plane adj., flat, plane, 16th c. ad. L. plān-us flat (being a learned or technical doublet of the popular plain, plaine flat, plain).
In Eng. the two ns. plan and plane divide between them the various senses combined in F. under plan.]
I. 1. a. A drawing, sketch, or diagram of any object, made by projection upon a flat surface, usually a horizontal plane (opp. to elevation 11): spec. (a) A drawing or diagram showing the relative positions of the parts of a building, or of any one floor of a building, as projected upon a horizontal plane. (b) A map of a comparatively small district or region, as a town, etc. drawn on a relatively large scale and with considerable detail. See also ground-plan.
in plan, as projected upon a horizontal plane (opp. to in section).
| [1678 Phillips: cf. 4.] 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Plan, a Draught, Model, or Ground-plot; a Design, Ground-work, or Project of any piece of Work. 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 87 Designed upon Rolls of Paper, call'd Plans. 1727 (title) The Designs of Inigo Jones, consisting of Plans and Elevations for Public and Private Buildings..by W. Kent, with..Additional Designs. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., Plan, in architecture, is..used for a draught of a building; such as it appears, or is intended to appear, on the ground; shewing the extent, division, and distribution of its area into apartments, rooms, passages, etc. ..Geometrical Plan, is that wherein the solid and vacant parts are represented in their natural proportion. 1731 [see perspective a. 3]. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §97 An exact Plan of the surface of the rock, as reduced to an horizontal plane. 1833 Herschel Astron. viii. 244 We see their [the planets'] evolutions, not in plan, but in section. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 5 When the portion of country delineated is but small, the sketch is generally termed a plan. Mod. The plans of the house have been submitted to me. In an ante-room there is a plan of the tables in which you can find your place. |
b. A diagram, table, or program, indicating the relations of some set of objects, or the times, places, etc. of some intended proceedings (e.g. a table of the appointments of local preachers in a circuit or district). (Cf. 2, 3.)
| 1855 E. Smith Bot. in Orr's Circ. Sc., Syst. Nat. Hist. I. 151 Linnæan System..Reference to the annexed plan will show that the first eleven classes are named according to the number of stamens... The following tables contain a complete summary of the Linnæan plan of classification. |
c. Methodism. A periodic document listing the preachers for all the services throughout a circuit for the period.
| 1776 J. Wesley Let. 24 June (1931) VI. 224 Fix a regular plan for the local preachers and see that they keep it. 1780 ― Wks. (1872) XII. 318 You [Christopher Hopper] was the very person who introduced plans among us. 1807 J. Nightingale Portraiture of Methodism xxix. 304 A local-preacher's plan, is a paper properly divided and subdivided into columns and squares, on which the names of all the preachers are inserted, the respective places of their preaching-appointments, and the dates of the month... One of these plans is given to every local-preacher. 1851 J. Loutit Let. 17 Dec. in W. R. Ward Early Vict. Methodism (1976) 411 While it is said that ‘no person shall receive a plan as a Local-Preacher without the approbation of a Local-Preachers' Meeting’..there is no express arrangement for his removal. 1898 B. Gregory Side Lights on Conflicts of Methodism ii. 25 Village Methodism was built up at first to a very great extent by the institution of ‘taking in the preachers’... Indeed, by a genial and judicious ministerial spirit, the ‘Dinner Plan’ may be made no inconsiderable accessory to the Circuit Plan. 1925 F. Hodges My Adventures as Labour-Leader iii. 19 In due course my name was inscribed upon the ‘plan’ as a regular local preacher. 1929 W. T. A. Barber in Lidgett & Reed Methodism in Mod. World i. 28 As a local preacher he opened preaching-places and formed societies, working within the Methodist system. Like his northern contemporaries, he could not be bound by its rules, and, after several attempts at conformity, was finally excluded from the plan. 1937 W. H. Lax Lax of Poplar xii. 109 When I preached my trial sermon for the Local Preachers' Plan. 1957 R. F. Wearmouth Social & Polit. Influence of Methodism in 20th Cent. vii. 117 In due time he was nominated for the preachers' plan, and in 1869–70 became a Primitive Methodist local preacher. 1963 R. E. Davies Methodism 174 The plan of public services for a quarter in each circuit is drawn up by the superintendent minister, normally in consultation with his colleagues. 1975 C. Moorhouse Sabden 52 In 1810 Burnley was made the head of a new circuit. The resident Methodists in Sabden at this date had so far been organised that Sabden was put on the plan and included in the new circuit organisation. |
2. A design according to which things or parts of a thing are, or are to be, arranged; a scheme of arrangement; transf. disposition of parts, arrangement; a type of structure (viewed as designed); configuration (of a surface).
| 1732 Pope Ess. Man i. 6 A mighty maze! but not without a plan. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. Pref. 4 A different plan..might be more favourable to a commodious division and distribution of his matter. 1828 Thackeray Let. in Daily News 15 Apr. (1898) 6/2, I have not yet drawn out a plan for my stories, but certain germs thereof are budding in my mind. 1855 W. S. Dallas Zool. in Orr's Circ. Sc., Syst. Nat. Hist. I. 202 Animals are constructed upon five primary types or plans, of which all the varied forms presented by these creatures are but modifications. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 7 The plan of the Laws is more irregular..than any other of the writings of Plato. |
3. a. A formulated or organized method according to which something is to be done; a scheme of action, project, design; the way in which it is proposed to carry out some proceeding. Also in weakened sense: Method, way of proceeding.
| 1706 [see 1]. 1713 Addison Cato iii. v. 74 Remember..The gen'rous plan of pow'r deliver'd down From age to age, by your renown'd forefathers. 1749 G. Jeffreys in J. Duncombe Lett. (1773) II. 213, I admire the execution of his plan, but not the plan itself. 1803 Wordsw. Rob Roy's Gr. 38 The good old rule..the simple plan, That they should take, who have the power, And they should keep who can. 1837 Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) IV. 229 Change your whole plan of campaign... Form yourselves everywhere into associations to gain knowledge which is power, and to communicate it through the press. 1855 [see 1 b]. 1892 Westcott Gospel of Life 279 All history is in one sense the fulfilment of a divine plan. |
b. plan of campaign (in Irish politics): see campaign n. 5 c.
c. A scheme for the economic development of a country. Also transf. Freq. with specification of a number of years in which the objectives are to be achieved; cf. five-year plan s.v. five a. and n. 2.
| 1933 B.B.C. Year-bk. 1934 19 Special attention was paid..to the gradual progressive adaptation of existing facilities on a kind of ‘Five-Years' Plan’. 1937 Ann. Reg. 1936 188 Herr Hitler accordingly announced a Four-Year Plan for Germany with the object of making Germany independent of supplies of raw materials from abroad. 1949 ‘G. Orwell’ Nineteen Eighty-Four i. 48 Some triumph of over-production in the Ninth Three-Year Plan. 1962 Listener 20 Dec. 1041/2 There is no powerful spokesman inside the British Cabinet whose job it is to concentrate on the Plan. 1974 B. Pearce tr. Amin's Accumulation on World Scale II. iii. 433 In a planned socialist economy, the banks strictly limit advances to enterprises to the amounts laid down in the plan. |
II. (Rendering or imitating F. plan.)
4. a. Perspective. Any one of a number of ideal planes perpendicular to the line of vision passing through the objects represented in a picture, according to the distances of which planes from the eye the objects are proportionately diminished. b. Sculpture. The plane on which the figures in a bas-relief are raised above the ground, esp. one of several such planes giving more or less relief to different figures in the design.
| a. 1678 Phillips (ed. 4), Plan (in Perspective). 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Plan, Perspective Plan, is that conducted and exhibited by degradations, or diminutions, according to the rules of perspective. 1904 Saintsbury Hist. Crit. III. 425 To receive and express more or less detailed images, and add, as it were, not merely stroke after stroke, but plan after plan, to the picture. |
| b. 1780 Sir J. Reynolds Disc. x. (1876) 12 Making different plans in the same bas-relievos. |
† 5. a. = plane n.3 1 a. Obs.
| 1713 Phil. Trans. XXVIII. 244 It is always placed upon the same Plan or Level with the Sprig that bears the Berry. |
† b. The surface on which anything stands. Obs.
| 1723 Chambers tr. Le Clerc's Treat. Archit. I. 8 A Base adds a Grace to a Column; and..makes it stand the more firmly on its Plan. |
III. 6. attrib. and Comb., as plan-maker, plan-reader, plan view; plan-like adj.; plan-position indicator, an instrument giving a map-like display on a cathode-ray tube of the positions of objects detected by a rotating radar scanner; plan view, a view in plan; = plan n. 1.
| 1782 V. Knox Ess. (1819) III. clviii. 190 Why always employ a professed plan-maker? 1850 T. Tredgold Steam Engine (ed. 3) I. iv. 17 These dimensions are given in the plan view, Plate IV., where the cylinder and steam chest are shown in section. 1859 Todd's Cycl. Anat. V. 458/1 The regular and plan-like manner in which the pulsations of the heart..take place. 1892 Princ. Pattern Making 160 In a plan view of a drawing, the eye of the observer is supposed to be set directly vertical over the drawing, and the illusions due to perspective are supposed not to exist. 1905 Academy 7 Oct. 1027/2 The simple manner accepted by all plan-drawers, and intelligible to all plan-readers. 1944 Princ. Radar (M.I.T. Radar School) iii. 37 The plan position indicator (PPI) presents range and bearing in polar form. 1945 Wireless World Sept. 270/2 The Naval ‘Plan Position Indicator’ presents..a complete picture of the relative positions of all aircraft in the vicinity. 1952 Electronic Engin. XXIV. 430/1 The plan position indicator is a 9 in. cathode-ray tube. 1962 D. Nichols Echinoderms iii. 50 The outermost virgalia of each column are shortened and expanded laterally to form a series of marginals, outlining the plan-view of the animal. 1970 K. R. Hart Engin. Drawing iii. 11 The Elevation and Plan views may not..fully specify the shape description of an object. 1974 Sci. Amer. Apr. 51/2 The task selected by Beatty was the familiar one of detecting ‘targets’ simulating aircraft on the cathode ray screen of a radar plan-position indicator, similar to the screens monitored by air-traffic controllers at most airports. |
▪ II. plan, v.
(plæn)
[f. prec. n.]
1. a. trans. To make a plan of (something existing, esp. a piece of ground or a building); to delineate upon or by means of a plan; to plot down, lay down. Also, to construct (a plan or diagram).
| 1748 Anson's Voy. Introd. 7 Employed in drawing such coasts, and planning such harbours, as the ship should touch at. 1764 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 221 Ordered that Mr. Eyes do plan the Corporation Estate, and colour it. 1828 Hutton Course Math. II. 66 Set down the measures properly in a field-book..and plan them after returning from the field, by laying down all the lines and angles. 1904 M. R. James Ghost-stories Antiq. 184 It occurred to me that..very few of the English preceptories have ever been properly planned. |
b. To mark out into divisions as in a plan or diagram (said in pass. of natural structures). nonce-use.
| 1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 248/1 The bone itself is planned out into small circular dimples. |
2. To make a plan of (something, esp. a building, to be constructed); hence, to devise, contrive, design (a building or other material thing to be constructed).
| 1728 Pope Dunc. i. 272 Here she plann'd th' Imperial seat of Fools. 1789 G. White Selborne (1853) 3 Plan the pavilion, airy, light, and true. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 188 In planning a large edifice, particular attention must be paid to the situation of the stairs. 1893 Courtney in Academy 13 May 413/1 The gardens were planned by the best landscape gardeners of the day. |
3. a. To devise, contrive, design (something to be done, or some action or proceeding to be carried out); to scheme, project, arrange beforehand. Also with on, out, obj. clause, or absol.
| 1737 Pope Hor. Epist. ii. i. 374 We needs will write Epistles to the King;..Be call'd to Court to plan some work divine. 1777 C. Reeve Champion of Virtue 93 Some are born to plan, others to execute. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia v. xi, Cecilia the whole time was planning how to take her leave. 1804 Wordsw. ‘She was a Phantom of Delight’ iii, A perfect Woman, nobly planned, To warn, to comfort, and command. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xvii. 121 We had planned an ascent of Monte Rosa together. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. II. x. 470 Never was a campaign more ably planned. 1873 ‘S. Coolidge’ What Katy Did xi. 230 Few visitors came to interrupt her, so she could plan out her hours and keep to the plans. 1896 C. M. Sheldon His Brother's Keeper v. 107 When Aunt Royal comes, I mean to plan for something besides all this. 1918 Dialect Notes V. 20 Planned on going, planned to go. 1926 Amer. Oxonian July 99 If I were planning on going after a Rhodes Scholarship next year, I should read a great deal on foreign affairs. 1936 L. C. Douglas White Banners ix. 195 We had not planned on such a large house. 1963 M. Shadbolt in C. K. Stead N.Z. Short Stories (1966) 314 We don't plan on any drinking. 1977 H. Kaplan Damascus Cover iv. 35 Ari pressed for a date when he could plan on going abroad. |
b. To arrange for or include in a plan; spec. in Methodism, to include a preacher in a plan (plan n. 1 c).
| 1807 J. Nightingale Portraiture of Methodism xxvii. 280 Let no local-preacher, who will not meet in class, or who is not regularly planned by the superintendant of the circuit where he resides, be permitted to preach. 1898 J. Ackworth Scowcroft Critics 244 The next night Squire was ‘planned’ to conduct the weeknight service. 1899 Quiller-Couch Ship Stars ix. 75 There's a new preacher planned to the Bible Christians, down to Innis. 1950 S. Redfern Methodist Journey iii. 21 As a rule, two or three preachers were planned at the villages en route, so the circuit trap was used. 1961 Times 20 Jan. 14/6 ‘Then we'll plan you in the circuit here,’ he said briskly. |