Etymograph

English

plane

Plane comes from Latin plānum ‘flat surface’, from plānus ‘plain’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- ‘flat’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-‘flat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₂nósreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plānosreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplānus‘plain’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEplānum‘flat surface’noun use of neuter of plānus
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1979plane

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-‘flat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₂nósreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plānosreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplānus‘plain’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEplānum‘flat surface’noun use of neuter of plānus
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1979plane

Earliest quotation: 1979, Graham Burtenshaw, O.V.S. Bulleid's SR loco-hauled coaches - 1: “Mirrors in the compartments have been canted out of…”

The story

The word was introduced in the 17th century to distinguish the geometrical senses from the other senses of plain.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- ‘flat’

field, floor, palm, clan, archipelago, fluke, parma, flounder, placenta, playa, lech, polonium, pelagic, palatine, placate, veld, implacable, floe, flay, purdah, plantar, planta, 47 more

through Proto-Italic *plānos

unexplainable, explainable, 11 more

through Latin plānus ‘plain’

explain, explanation, explanatory, planar, esplanade, llano, 14 more

through Latin plānum ‘flat surface’

plain, 2 more

Another origin of plane

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-‘flat’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₂nósreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plānosreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplānus‘flat’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEplāna‘planing tool’
  6. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400plaine
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500plane
  8. Englishtodayplane

Another origin of plane

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ews-‘to dawn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ewsér‘in the direction of dawn, east’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*auhḗrreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEᾱ̓ήρāḗr‘mist’
  5. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEπλανάωplanáō‘to make to wander, lead wandering about’
  6. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEᾱ̓ερόπλᾰνοςāeróplănos‘wandering in air’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentaéroplane
  8. English1500–presentaeroplane
  9. Englishtodayplane

Another origin of plane

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleth₂-‘flat’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pléth₂us‘flat, broad’uncertain
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*plətús‘wide, broad’uncertain
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπλατύςplatús‘wide, broad’uncertain
  5. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEπλάτανοςplátanos‘planetree’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplatanus‘planetree, sycamore’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400plane
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500plane
  9. Englishtodayplane

Today it means

adj Of a surface: flat or level.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- / plane

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