ENGLISH
REFERENCE

plain

n. countable
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //ˈpɫeɪn// UK //plˈeɪn// plain Archaic Dialect General-service Informal Literary

n. a large area of flat land with few trees. It is often covered in grass and is easy to see across for a long distance.

n. a broad area of relatively flat land, typically characterized by low relief and minimal forest cover.


SIMPLE

The vast plain stretched out for miles in every direction.

CONTEXTUAL

Farmers in the central plain rely on seasonal rains to water their vast fields of wheat and corn.

COMPLEX

The nomadic tribes moved across the high plain in search of better grazing land for their herds as the summer heat intensified.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology 1

From Middle English pleyn, borrowed from Anglo-Norman pleyn, playn, Middle French plain, plein, and Old French plain, from Latin plānus (“flat, even, level, plain”). Doublet of llano, piano, and plane.

Etymology 2

From Old French plain, from Latin plānum (“level ground, a plain”), neuter substantive from plānus (“level, even, flat”). Doublet of llano, piano, and plane.

Etymology 3

From Anglo-Norman plainer, pleiner, variant of Anglo-Norman and Old French pleindre, plaindre, from Latin plangere.

Etymology 4

From Middle English pleyn, borrowed from Old French plein, from Latin plēnus (“full, filled, complete”). Ultimately from Proto-Italic plēnos, from Proto-Indo-European pl̥h₁nós (“full”). Doublet of plene, plenary, and full.

Usage

Often used in the plural ('the plains') when referring to a specific geographic region.

Idioms3 entries

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