# plain

Pronunciation: say "PLAYN" /pleɪn/

## Adjective

1. Simple and without decoration or pattern; in its basic form, with nothing extra added, especially of food prepared or served without sauces, flavorings, or toppings.
   - Simple: Simple, with no decoration or pattern. Basic, with nothing extra added, like food served without sauces or toppings.
   - _The room was plain, with bare walls and simple wooden furniture._
   - _She ate plain rice for a few days while her stomach settled._
3. Evident to the senses or reason; obvious, clear, and impossible to mistake.
   - Simple: Very clear and easy to see or understand.
   - _His disappointment was plain from the look on his face._
   - _It soon became plain that the plan would not work._
5. Complete and utter; downright, used to intensify what follows.
   - Simple: Complete and total, used to stress how clear or bad something is.
   - _His behavior at the meeting was plain rudeness, nothing less._
   - _Calling it an accident is plain dishonesty._
6. Simple and unsophisticated in habits or character; ordinary, not exceptional.
   - Simple: Simple and ordinary, not fancy or special.
   - _He was a plain man who cared little for fashion or fame._
   - _Their tastes remained plain despite their growing wealth._
7. Not especially beautiful or attractive; ordinary in looks.
   - Simple: Not pretty or good-looking, just ordinary to look at.
   - _She thought herself plain, though her friends strongly disagreed._
   - _The portrait showed a plain woman with a steady, intelligent gaze._
8. Of text or a file, consisting only of characters, without stored visual formatting such as fonts, styles, or embedded images.
   - Simple: Made of only letters, numbers, and other characters, with no fonts, colors, or other formatting.
   - _Many programmers keep their notes in plain text, free of fonts and colors._
   - _Configuration files are often kept as plain text for easy editing._
9. Honest and candid, speaking openly and bluntly without deception.
   - Simple: Honest and direct, saying things clearly without hiding anything.
   - _He was plain in his criticism, sparing no one's feelings._
   - _I appreciate plain talk far more than empty flattery._
11. Of a card or suit, not belonging to the trump suit.
   - Simple: In card games, belonging to a suit that is not the trump suit.
   - _With all his trumps gone, he was left leading plain suits._
   - _With no hearts left, she threw away a low plain card and saved her trumps._

## Noun

2. A large area of flat or gently rolling land with few trees, often covered in grass; also, any broad, flat expanse, such as of water.
   - Simple: A large area of flat land with few trees. Also any wide, flat stretch, such as of water.
   - _Buffalo once roamed the grassy plain in enormous numbers._
   - _Farmers settled the fertile plains along the river valley._

## Adverb

4. Simply; used to emphasize, often meaning downright or utterly. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Simply or completely, used to make what you say stronger.
   - _The whole idea is plain ridiculous._
   - _She was plain exhausted after the long trip._

## Adjective

10. Flat and level in surface. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Flat and level, without bumps or slopes.
18. Whole and entire, lacking nothing in number or extent. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Full and complete in number or amount.

## Adverb

12. In a clear and distinct manner. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: In a clear, direct way that is easy to understand.
   - _He set out his terms plain, leaving no room for doubt._
   - _Speak plain, sir, for riddles will not serve us here._

## Noun

13. A battlefield; the field on which a battle takes place. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: The open ground where a battle is fought.
16. An expression of grief; a lamentation. *(rare)*
   - Simple: A sad song or cry that shows deep grief.

## Verb

14. To make plain or clear; to explain something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To explain something so that it is clear.
15. To express grief or dissatisfaction; to lament, bewail, or complain. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To show sadness or unhappiness about something out loud. To lament or complain.
17. To level or raze something; to make its surface even. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To make ground or a surface flat and smooth.

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Clear and unobstructed; open, even, and fair.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 3–12** — Latin plānus ("flat, even, level") passed through Old French and Anglo-Norman plain and was borrowed as Middle English pleyn. Llano, piano, and plane are doublets.
**Meanings 2, 13–14, 17** — Latin plānus ("level, even, flat") had a noun use, plānum ("level ground, a plain"), which became Old French plain and then this English word. Llano, piano, and plane are doublets.
**Meanings 15–16** — Latin plangere gave Anglo-Norman and Old French pleindre, plaindre, and a variant of that, Anglo-Norman plainer, pleiner, is the source.
**Meaning 18** — Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós, meaning "full," led to Proto-Italic *plēnos and Latin plēnus ("full, filled, complete"). Old French made it plein, and Middle English borrowed it as pleyn. Plene, plenary, and full are doublets.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/plain (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).