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plane

Pronunciation: /pleɪn/

The English word “plane” has 16 meanings listed here.

adjective

  1. Of a surface: flat or level.

noun

  1. A level or flat surface.
  2. A flat surface extending infinitely in all directions (e.g. horizontal or vertical plane); a bounded portion thereof.
  3. An imaginary plane which divides the body into two portions.
  4. A level of existence or development.
  5. A roughly flat, thin, often moveable structure used to create lateral force by the flow of air or water over its surface, found on aircraft, submarines, etc.
  6. Any of 17 designated ranges of 2¹⁶ (65,536) sequential code points each.
  7. A tool for smoothing wood by removing thin layers from the surface.
  8. An airplane; an aeroplane.
  9. Any of various nymphalid butterflies, of various genera, having a slow gliding flight.
  10. The butterfly Bindahara phocides, family Lycaenidae, of Asia and Australasia.
  11. A deciduous tree of the genus Platanus.
  12. A sycamore.

verb

  1. To smooth (wood) with a plane.
  2. To move in a way that lifts the bow out of the water.
  3. To glide or soar.

Etymology

From Latin plānum (“flat surface”), a noun use of the neuter of plānus (“plain”). The word was introduced in the 17th century to distinguish the geometrical senses from the other senses of plain. Doublet of llano, piano, plain, and plan.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.