plano

Forms

plānō (present infinitive plānāre, perfect active plānāvī, supine plānātum); first conjugation^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin plānus¹ (“flat, level”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Georges cites it first from Sedulius, writing in the first half of the 5th century AD,^[1][4] in a figurative sense: to level what is steep (ardua planare).^[1][5]

Semantic evolution

In the 6th century Corippus uses it literally, of levelling roads (planate vias).^[6][1][4] Gregory of Tours speaks of books smoothed with pumice.^[1] Ecclesiastical Latin dictionaries give it as to make plain, level or even.^[7]

In the medieval Latin of Poland it was used of a measure of grain struck level with the rim, of harrowing fields, of settling a dispute amicably, and of scraping an entry out of the court books.^[8]

Timeline

• first half of the 5th century AD – Sedulius uses it figuratively of levelling heights.^[1][4]
• 6th century AD – Corippus uses it of levelling roads.^[6][1][4]
• 538/539–594 AD – Gregory of Tours speaks of books smoothed with pumice.^[1][4]
• 1381 – A Polish charter uses it of a measure struck level.^[8]
• 1404 – A Polish charter uses it of harrowing fields.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To level, make flat or even.^[6][1][7]
2. (figurative) To smooth over, make easy.^[1][5]
3. (Medieval Latin) To settle (a dispute) amicably.^[8]
4. (Medieval Latin) To erase (an entry in a register).^[8]

Usage notes

The TLL has a separate Late Latin verb plano, borrowed from Greek, meaning to lead astray or deceive, found in Verecundus.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
2. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b c d e Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl