plane

plane

See also: Plane, Pläne, plané, plañe, pláne, and pláně

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pleɪn/
  • Audio (UK); a plane [pʰlɛɪ̯n]:(file)
  • Audio (US); [pʰl̥ẽːn]:(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪn
  • Homophone: plain (panepain merger)

Etymology 1

    From Latin plānum (flat surface), a noun use of the neuter of plānus (plain). The word was introduced in the 17th century to distinguish the geometrical senses from the other senses of plain. Doublet of llano, piano, and plain.

    Adjective

    plane (comparative planer, superlative planest)

    1. Of a surface: flat or level.
    Derived terms
    Translations

    Noun

    plane (plural planes)

    1. A level or flat surface.
    2. (geometry) A flat surface extending infinitely in all directions (e.g. horizontal or vertical plane); a bounded portion thereof.
      • 1979 August, Graham Burtenshaw, Michael S. Welch, “O.V.S. Bulleid's SR loco-hauled coaches - 1”, in Railway World, page 396:
        Mirrors in the compartments have been canted out of the vertical plane to reduce reflections to the passengers when seated.
      1. (anatomy) An imaginary plane which divides the body into two portions.
    3. A level of existence or development.
      • 1982 December 4, Catherine Joseph, “Empowered into Enlightenment”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 20, page 8:
        Nettie's stories about her experiences in Africa point out many parallels between the African and American ways of life. Her stories about the African lifestyle and family structure, in particular, point out the sexist and oppressive conditions that women are forced to submit to on a global plane.
    4. A roughly flat, thin, often moveable structure used to create lateral force by the flow of air or water over its surface, found on aircraft, submarines, etc.
      Hyponyms: airfoil, hydrofoil, wing, foreplane, canard, tailplane, stabilizer, horizontal stabilizer, vertical stabilizer
    5. (computing, Unicode) Any of 17 designated ranges of 216 (65,536) sequential code points each.
    Hyponyms
    Derived terms
    Descendants
    • Irish: plána
    Translations

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English plane, plaine, from Anglo-Norman plaine, from Late Latin plāna (planing tool).

    Noun

    plane (plural planes)

    1. (countable, carpentry) A tool for smoothing wood by removing thin layers from the surface.
    Derived terms
    Translations
    See also

    Verb

    plane (third-person singular simple present planes, present participle planing, simple past and past participle planed)

    1. (transitive, carpentry) To smooth (wood) with a plane.
    Derived terms
    Translations

    Etymology 3

      Clipping of aeroplane.

      Alternative forms

      Noun

      plane (plural planes)

      1. An airplane; an aeroplane.
        on a plane
        • 2013 September 6, Tom Cheshire, “Solar-powered travel”, in The Guardian Weekly[1], volume 189, number 13, page 34:
          The plane is travelling impossibly slowly – 30km an hour – when it gently noses up and leaves the ground. With air beneath them, the rangy wings seem to gain strength; the fuselage that on the ground seemed flimsy becomes elegant, like a crane vaunting in flight. It seems not to fly, though, so much as float.
      2. (entomology) Any of various nymphalid butterflies, of various genera, having a slow gliding flight.
        Synonym: aeroplane
      3. (entomology) The butterfly Bindahara phocides, family Lycaenidae, of Asia and Australasia.
      Derived terms
      Translations

      Verb

      plane (third-person singular simple present planes, present participle planing, simple past and past participle planed)

      1. (nautical, of a boat) To move in a way that lifts the bow out of the water.
      2. To glide or soar.
      Derived terms
      Translations

      Etymology 4

      From Middle English plane, borrowed from Old French plane, from Latin platanus, from Ancient Greek πλάτανος (plátanos), from πλατύς (platús, wide, broad).

      Noun

      plane (plural planes)

      1. (countable) A deciduous tree of the genus Platanus.
      2. (Northern UK) A sycamore.
      Derived terms
      Translations

      Further reading

      Anagrams

      Czech

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): [ˈplanɛ]

      Verb

      plane

      1. third-person singular present of planout

      French

      Pronunciation

      Adjective

      plane

      1. feminine singular of plan

      Verb

      plane

      1. inflection of planer:
        1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
        2. second-person singular imperative

      Anagrams

      German

      Pronunciation

      Verb

      plane

      1. inflection of planen:
        1. first-person singular present
        2. first/third-person singular subjunctive I
        3. singular imperative

      Latin

      Etymology

      From plānus (intelligible, clear).

      Pronunciation

      Adverb

      plānē (comparative plānius, superlative plānissimē)

      1. plainly (to the senses or understanding), distinctly, intelligibly
      2. (emphasising correctness) clearly, obviously; (also used as an affirmative answer)
        • 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations Oratio in Catilinam Prima in Senatu Habita.8:
          Nihil agis, nihil mōlīris, nihil cōgitās, quod nōn ego nōn modo audiam, sed etiam videam plānēque sentiam.
          [There is] nothing you do, nothing you attempt, nothing you plan, which I not only do not hear, but also can [not] see and clearly understand.
          (The adverb plane + the enclitic particle -que. Several of the definitions given here for plane are appropriate in this context: Cicero plainly, clearly, and fully understands what Catiline conspires against the republic.)
      3. wholly, utterly, thoroughly, quite

      Descendants

      References

      Further reading

      • plane”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
      • plane”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
      • "plane", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
      • plane”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
      • Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
        • to speak openly, straightforwardly: plane, aperte dicere
        • to banish all sad thoughts: omnem luctum plane abstergere

      Anagrams

      Lithuanian

      Noun

      plane m

      1. locative singular of planas

      Norwegian Nynorsk

      Adjective

      plane

      1. definite singular of plan
      2. plural of plan

      Portuguese

      Verb

      plane

      1. inflection of planar:
        1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
        2. third-person singular imperative

      Swedish

      Adjective

      plane

      1. definite natural masculine singular of plan

      Anagrams