Where does “plain” come from?
plain (French) comes from Old French plain, from Latin plēnus, from Proto-Italic plēnos, from Proto-Indo-European pl̥h₁nós, from Proto-Indo-European pleh₁- — to fill.
plain (French): plane
Ancestry of “plain”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | plain | full; plain; flat |
| 2 | Latin | plēnus | — |
| 3 | Proto-Italic | plēnos | full |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | pl̥h₁nós | full |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | pleh₁- | to fill |
Words derived from “plain”