Plain (?), 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) Without beauty; not handsome; homely; as, a
plain woman. (f) Not variegated,
dyed, or figured; as, plain muslin. (g)
Not much varied by modulations; as, a plain
tune.
Plain battle, open battle; pitched
battle. [Obs.] Chaucer. -- Plain chant
(Mus.) Same as Plain song, below. --
Plain chart (Naut.), a chart laid down on
Mercator's projection. -- Plain dealer.
(a) One who practices plain dealing.
(b) A simpleton. [Obs.] Shak. --
Plain dealing. See under Dealing. --
Plain molding (Join.), molding of which
the surfaces are plain figures. -- Plain
sewing, sewing of seams by simple and common stitches,
in distinct from fancy work, embroidery, etc.; -- distinguished also
from designing and fitting garments. -- Plain
song. (a) The Gregorian chant, or
canto fermo; the prescribed melody of the Roman Catholic
service, sung in unison, in tones of equal length, and rarely
extending beyond the compass of an octave. (b)
A simple melody. -- Plain speaking,
plainness or bluntness of speech.
Syn. -- Level; flat; smooth; open; artless; unaffected;
undisguised; frank; sincere; honest; candid; ingenuous; unembellished;
downright; blunt; clear; simple; distinct; manifest; obvious;
apparent. See Manifest.
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.
