# plane

Pronunciation: say "PLAYN" /pleɪn/

## Noun

1. A powered aircraft with fixed wings; an airplane.
   - Simple: A flying vehicle with wings and engines that carries people or cargo.
   - _The plane climbed steeply after leaving the runway._
   - _Heavy snow grounded every plane at the regional airport._
2. A flat surface, often imaginary, extending in all directions, or a bounded part of one, such as a plane in geometry or one used to divide the body into sections.
   - Simple: A perfectly flat surface, usually imagined, as used in math or to describe how the body is divided.
   - _Any three points that are not in a line define a single plane._
   - _The two planes intersect along a straight line._
3. A level or flat surface.
   - Simple: A flat, even surface.
   - _The two planes met at a sharp ridge along the roof._
   - _He set the marble on a perfectly level plane._
4. A particular level at which something exists or has developed.
   - Simple: A level or stage of being or growth.
   - _The artist's later work operates on an entirely different plane._
   - _They spoke of spirits existing on a higher plane._
6. A woodworking tool with a blade that pares fine shavings from a surface, leaving it smooth and even.
   - Simple: A hand tool that shaves thin layers off wood to make it smooth.
   - _She sharpened the plane before flattening the tabletop._
   - _A few passes with the plane left the surface glass-smooth._
10. A roughly flat, thin, often movable structure that creates sideways force from air or water flowing over it, used on aircraft, submarines, and similar craft.
   - Simple: A flat, thin part that uses moving air or water to push or steer a craft.
   - _The submarine's forward planes angled downward to begin the descent._
   - _Each plane adjusts slightly to steer the craft through the water._
11. A broad-leaved deciduous tree of the genus Platanus.
   - Simple: A tall, broad-leaved tree that drops its leaves in the fall.
   - _The old plane by the canal sheds strips of bark every summer._
   - _The planes along the river drop their leaves early._

## Adjective

5. Of a surface, lying perfectly flat and level throughout.
   - Simple: Completely flat and even, with no bumps or curves.
   - _The lens must sit against a perfectly plane surface._
   - _Engineers checked that the mirror was truly plane._

## Verb

7. To smooth wood by shaving thin layers from its surface with a plane.
   - Simple: To make wood smooth by shaving off thin layers with a tool.
   - _The joiner planed each plank to an even thickness._
   - _Carpenters plane the rough timber before assembly._
8. To glide or soar smoothly through the air.
   - Simple: To move smoothly through the air without flapping or power.
   - _The seabird planed low across the waves without a single wingbeat._
   - _Gulls plane on the updrafts beside the cliffs._
9. Of a boat, to travel fast enough that the hull rises and skims along the surface instead of pushing through the water.
   - Simple: Of a boat, to go so fast that it rises up and skims over the top of the water.
   - _With the throttle open, the hull started to plane over the flat water._
   - _Lightweight skiffs plane more easily than heavy cruisers._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A sycamore tree.
- (noun) Any of 17 designated ranges of 65,536 sequential code points each, used to organize Unicode characters.
- (noun) Any of several butterflies of Asia and Australasia known as planes, including species from two different families, many of which fly with a slow, gliding motion.

## Origin

**Meanings 2–5, 10** — Latin plānus ("plain") had a neuter form used as a noun, plānum ("flat surface"), and that is the source. English adopted it in the 17th century to keep the geometry senses separate from plain's other meanings. Llano, piano, and plain are doublets.
**Meanings 6–7** — Late Latin plāna ("planing tool") became Anglo-Norman plaine, which gave Middle English plane or plaine.
**Meanings 1, 8–9** — A clipping of "aeroplane."
**Meaning 11** — The traditional explanation links Ancient Greek πλάτανος (plátanos) to πλατύς (platús, "wide, broad"), but this derivation is disputed. Latin borrowed the tree name as platanus. It passed into Old French as plane, which Middle English borrowed as plane.

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