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(), v. i.[OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.] To lament; to bewail; to complain. [Archaic & Poetic] Milton. We with piteous heart unto you pleyne. Chaucer. Plain v. t.To lament; to mourn over; as, to plain a loss. [Archaic & Poetic] Sir J. Harrington. Plain a.[Compar.Plainer (); superl.Plainest.] [F., level, flat, fr. L. planus, perhaps akin to E. floor. Cf. Llano, Piano, Plan, Plane level, a level surface.] 1. Without elevations or depressions; flat; level; smooth; even. See Plane. The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. Isa. xl. 4. 2. Open; clear; unencumbered; equal; fair. Our troops beat an army in plain fight. Felton. 3. Not intricate or difficult; evident; manifest; obvious; clear; unmistakable. "'T is a plain case." Shak. 4. (a) Void of extraneous beauty or ornament; without conspicious embellishment; not rich; simple. (b) Not highly cultivated; unsophisticated; free from show or pretension; simple; natural; homely; common. "Plain yet pious Christians." Hammond. "The plain people." A. Lincoln. (c) Free from affectation or disguise; candid; sincere; artless; honest; frank. "An honest mind, and plain." Shak. (d) Not luxurious; not highly seasoned; simple; as, plain food. (e) Wit Plain adv.In a plain manner; plainly. "To speak short and pleyn." Chaucer. "To tell you plain." Shak. Plain n.[Cf. OF. plaigne, F. plaine. See Plain, a.] 1. Level land; usually, an open field or a broad stretch of land with an even surface, or a surface little varied by inequalities; as, the plain of Jordan; the American plains, or prairies. Descending fro the mountain into playn. Chaucer. Him the Ammonite Worshiped in Rabba and her watery plain. Milton. 2. A field of battle. [Obs.] Arbuthnot. Lead forth my soldiers to the plain. Shak. Plain v. t.[imp. & p. p.Plained (); p. pr. & vb. n.Plaining.] [Cf. Plane, v.] 1. To plane or level; to make plain or even on the surface. [R.] We would rake Europe rather, plain the East. Wither. 2. To make plain or manifest; to explain. What's dumb in show, I'll plain in speech. Shak. スポンサード リンク
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