plaine

Forms

plaine f (plural plaines)^[1] Old French pleine (1080, Chanson de Roland),^[2] beside plaigne, from Popular Latin *plania.^[3][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French plaine, inherited from Latin plāna,^[3][6][7] the neuter plural of plānus (“flat”) taken as a feminine noun; the Grand Robert gives the Popular Latin form as *planea.^[6][8] The TLFi describes it as the feminine of plain “flat” used as a noun.^[4][2] It drove out both the masculine noun plain, very common in Old French, and the rarer form plaigne, from Vulgar Latin *plania.^[4][3]

Cognate with Occitan plana, Spanish plana and Italian piana.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1140 the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne uses it for a stretch of flat land;^[4] the Chanson de Roland already has plaigne in the same sense (about 1100).^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The word names a stretch of land without relief and forms many phrases, such as en plaine.^[3] By analogy it became a poetic name for the sea, les plaines de Neptune (1559), and la plaine liquide is found in Racine (1677); la plaine des cieux is the sky (1568).^[4][3][2] In heraldry it names the lowest part of the shield when of a different tincture from the field (1671).^[4][3]

Because the moderate deputies sat low on the benches of the Convention, they and their party were called la Plaine (1792), as opposed to la Montagne.^[3][4] The word is also used figuratively of flatness and monotony.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – The form plaigne appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[4][5]
• c. 1140 – Plaine is used in the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne.^[4]
• 1559 – Olivier de Magny calls the sea les plaines de Neptune.^[4][9]
• 1568 – Garnier writes la plaine des cieux.^[4]
• 1671 – Ménestrier records the heraldic sense.^[4][2]
• 1677 – Racine uses la plaine liquide for the sea.^[2][9]
• 1792 – La Plaine names the moderates of the Convention.^[4][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A plain, a wide stretch of flat or gently rolling country, lower than the land around it: plaine alluviale.^{[8][10][4][2]}
2. (collective) Flat country, the lowlands, as opposed to the mountains: la plaine et la montagne.^[10][8]
3. (poetic) A wide expanse of water or sky: la plaine liquide, the sea.^[5][2]
4. (history) La Plaine: the moderate party of the Convention, whose deputies sat on the lower benches.^[10][4][5]
5. (heraldry) The lowest part of the escutcheon, of a tincture different from the field.^[4][5]

Word family

• pénéplaine

Related words

• plain
• plan¹

Usage notes

The old form plaigne survives in place names such as Plaigne and Plagne.^[3] Larousse also lists plaine as a synonym of plane, the woodworking tool.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 29b
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)