Where does “plain” come from?
Plain comes from Old French plain, from Latin planum, from Ancient Greek πλάνος, tracing back through Proto-Indo-European pleh₁- and pleh₂-.
plain (English): Flat, level; Simple; Obvious
Definitions
- Flat, level; Simple; Obvious
Ancestry of “plain”, step by step
plain traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English pleyn
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | pleyn | clear; unambiguous |
| 2 | Anglo-Norman | pleyn | Alternative form of plein |
| 3 | Old French | playn | — |
| 4 | Old French | plain | full; plain; flat |
| 5 | Latin | plēnus | full; filled; complete |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | plēnos | full |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pl̥h₁nós | full |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pleh₁- | to fill |
via Anglo-Norman plainer
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anglo-Norman | plainer | — |
| 2 | Old French | pleindre | Alternative form of plaindre; to complain, to... |
| 3 | Latin | planctus | struck, beaten; bewailed, lamented, mourned;... |
| 4 | Latin | -tus | Forms the past participle of verbs; Forms... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -tus | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -tus | Derives action nouns from verb roots |
via Middle French plain
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | plain | full |