plant English · revision 2831

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 830|origins=la planta}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /plɑːnt/, US /plænt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|plante]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|ang|plante|t=young plant, sprout]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) itself [[bor|la|planta|t=sprout, shoot, cutting]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) and later reborrowed from Old French plante.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Latin planta is perhaps from an unattested verb *plantāre “to drive in with the feet”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|planta|t=sole of the foot]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from a nasalized form of [[ine-pro|*plat-|t=to spread]].^(Etymonline) The verb is Old English plantian, from Latin plantāre “to plant, fix in place”, reinforced by Old French planter.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) German Pflanze, Irish cland and Welsh plant are also from Latin.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A young tree, shrub or herb newly planted, a cutting or seedling: before 830 in Barnhart^(Barnhart 1988) and about 825 in the OED.^(OED 1989) The verb, to set in the ground to grow, is from about 825 too,^(OED 1989) and also meant “to establish, set up for the first time”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The broader biological sense, any living thing that is not an animal, is from 1551,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) apparently borrowed from Middle French.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb came to mean “to insert firmly” in the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) “to settle people in a colony” from about 1300,^(Etymonline) and of ideas, “to implant”, from the early 15th century.^(Etymonline) From the general sense of something fixed came the meaning of the buildings and machinery of an industrial process, first recorded in 1789,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''plant yourself'' somewhere is from the early 18th century.^(Cresswell 2021) A spy or person placed to gather information is from 1812,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and to station someone secretly is by the 1690s.^(Etymonline) To hide something so that it will be found and mislead is by 1865,^(Etymonline) to land a blow is boxing slang by 1808,^(Etymonline) and “to bury” is US slang from 1855.^(Etymonline) Many of these developments follow French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 825 – a seedling, cutting; verb, to plant.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – verb, to settle a colony.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1551 – a member of the vegetable kingdom.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1690s – verb, to station someone secretly.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1789 – an industrial plant.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1812 – a spy.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1865 – verb, to hide evidence to mislead.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A living [[organism]] of the kingdom that includes trees, shrubs, grasses and [[fern|alt=ferns]], usually making its food by [[photosynthesis]] and unable to move.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A plant without a woody stem; a [[herb]] or young plant for planting.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A [[factory]], or the buildings, machinery and equipment of an industrial process.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ # A person placed to spy or to act as a [[decoy]]; something planted to mislead.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To put seeds or young plants in the ground to grow; to [[sow]] land with them.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To set firmly in place; to [[establish]] or found.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To place secretly, especially so as to mislead or [[incriminate]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To deliver a blow.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[plantable]]

+ * [[plantlike]]

+ * [[plantless]]

+ * [[unplanted]]

+ * [[interplant]]

+ * [[misplant]]

+ * [[overplant]]

+ * [[preplant]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[plantation]]

+ * [[plantain]]

+ * [[implant]]

+ * [[transplant]]

+ * [[supplant]]

+ * [[place]]

+ * [[plate]]

+ * [[flat]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}