plan French · revision 16049

+ The Robert dictionaries distinguish ''plan'' “flat, a plane”, borrowed from Latin ''planus'', from ''plan'' “plan, map”, originally ''plant'', from ''planter''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

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+ {{homograph|1|flat; a plane}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1520, Estienne de La Roche|origins=la plānus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /plɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''plan''' (feminine plane, masculine plural plans, feminine plural planes)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned Renaissance borrowing from [[la|plānus|t=level, smooth, flat]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|9, 32b) which had earlier given the inherited adjective [[plain]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) The noun (1553) is the adjective used substantively.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Estienne de La Roche's ''Arithmétique'' (1520) has ''superficie plane'', a plane surface.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Geometers introduced it, ''superficie plane'' gave way to ''surface plane'' (1680), and, from 1691 it described any object without unevenness or curvature, sometimes overlapping with ''plat''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) As a noun it was a flat surface (1553), whence ''plan incliné'' (Descartes, 1637), ''plan d'eau'' (1855; a stretch of calm water, 1935), ''plan de sustentation'' (1904) and ''plan de travail''; the geometric plane is recorded in 1680.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

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+ Classical painting used ''plan'' for each of the planes showing depth in perspective (1678), whence the theatre (1803) and the figurative “relative importance”: ''au second plan'' (1835), ''de premier plan'' (1890), ''sur le même plan'' (1901), ''sur le plan de'' (1908).^(DHLF 1992) Photography and cinema took it for a shot (''plan rapproché'', 1919, ''gros plan'', 1928, ''plan américain'', 1944).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1520 – ''Superficie plane''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1553 – The noun.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1637 – ''Plan incliné'' in Descartes.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1678 – In painting.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1811 – ''Arrière-plan''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1835 – ''Au second plan''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1919 – ''Plan rapproché'' in cinema.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1928 – ''Gros plan''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Flat, level, [[m|en|plane]]: ''une surface plane'', ''géométrie plane''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A plane, flat surface: ''plan incliné'', ''plan d'eau'', ''plan de travail''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(geometry)'' A plane.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A level, ground (in a picture or a view): ''premier plan'', ''arrière-plan'', ''au second plan'': in the background.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(cinema)'' A shot: ''gros plan'', ''plan américain''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Sur le plan de'': as regards, in terms of.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[planéité]]

+ * [[arrière-plan]]

+ * [[biplan]]

+ * [[monoplan]]

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+ {{homograph|2|plan, map}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=back-formation|attested=after 1450, Villon}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /plɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''plan''' ''m'' (plural plans)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the noun of [[planter]], first written “plant” and in the 16th century confused with “plan” “flat”, to which it was close.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)^(FEW|9, 22a) The REW traces the sense “ground plan” to [[it|pianta]], and Etymonline takes the English word, from French, as “a drawing on a flat surface”, from Latin “planum”.^(REW 1935)^(Etymonline)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Villon's jargon ballads (after 1450) have ''être en plant'' “to be in prison”, probably from ''planter'' “to stay put”.^(DHLF 1992)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Several slang senses keep the idea of staying put: a hiding place (1821, in the prison hulks; compare ''planque'') and ''laisser en plan'' “to leave in the lurch” (1821).^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF) The general sense grew from “the base on which a building is set” (1520–1546), whence the drawing that lays out a building or a town (1538) and its projection on a horizontal surface (1545); ''lever un plan'' dates from 1680.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

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+ Abstractly a ''plan'' was a set of arrangements for carrying out a project (1627), the outline of a work (1670) and a set of government measures (1875), as in ''plan quinquennal'' (from Russian) and ''plan comptable'' (1947).^(DHLF 1992) ''Tirer des plans'' (1821) comes from convicts' escape plans, and since the 1970s young people have used ''plan'' for any planned outing (''un bon plan'').^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) English ''plan'' was taken from French in the 1670s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * After 1450 – ''Être en plant'' in Villon.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1538 – The plan of a building or town.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1545 – A horizontal projection.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ * 1627 – A plan of action.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1670 – The plan of a work.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1670s – English ''plan''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1821 – ''Laisser en plan'', ''tirer des plans''.^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1875 – A government plan.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|plan]], drawing (of a building): ''le plan d'une maison'', ''acheter sur plan''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # A [[m|en|map]] (of a town, a network): ''un plan de Paris'', ''un plan de métro''.^(Wiktionary)^(Larousse)

+ # A plan, scheme: ''plan d'action'', ''plan de vol'', ''plan B''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An outline (of a text): ''le plan d'une dissertation''.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(familiar)'' A plan, deal: ''un bon plan''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Laisser en plan'': to leave in the lurch, ''tirer des plans sur la comète'': to build castles in the air.^(Wiktionary)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[planifier]]

+ * [[planification]]

+ * [[plan-plan]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[plain]]

+ * [[plat]]

+ * [[planter]]

+ * [[plante]]

+ * [[la|plānus]]

+ * [[en|plan]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}