plot English · revision 4393

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=a. 1100}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|plot|t=small piece of ground]], of unknown origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) Plat is a Middle English collateral form.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The sense “secret plan” was probably influenced by the chance likeness of [[complot]], from 1577,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from Old French complot “dense crowd, combined plan”, itself of unknown origin,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) perhaps a back-formation from compeloter “to roll into a ball”.^(Etymonline) Hoad treats the senses “ground”, “plan” and “conspiracy” as having separate sources.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A small piece of ground: probably before 1100, in late Old English.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A ground plan, map or chart is from 1551,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) the 1550s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) A plan or scheme is from 1587, and a secret plan or conspiracy from 1594, in Shakespeare's Richard III;^(Barnhart 1988) the OED suggests the sense became widely known through the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) The plan of events of a play or story is from 1649, in Lovelace's Poems,^(Barnhart 1988) the 1640s in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and ''the plot thickens'' comes from this sense.^(Cresswell 2021) The verb, to make a plan or diagram of, is from 1588, in Spenser,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and to lay plans, conspire, from 1589.^(Barnhart 1988) A graph of two variables is from 1912.^(OED 1989) ''Plot-line'' is from 1940.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a. 1100 – a piece of ground.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1551 – a ground plan, map.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1577 – ''complot''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1588 – verb, to map.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1594 – a conspiracy.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1605 – the Gunpowder Plot.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1649 – the plot of a story.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1912 – a graph.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A secret plan to do something unlawful or harmful; a [[conspiracy]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The main sequence of events in a [[novel]], play or film.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A small piece of ground used for a purpose: ''a vegetable plot''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A ground plan or diagram; a [[graph]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To plan secretly; to [[conspire]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To mark (points or a course) on a chart or graph.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To work out the events of (a story).^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[plotlessness]]

+ * [[plotless]]

+ * [[plotful]]

+ * [[by-plot]]

+ * [[counterplot]]

+ * [[marplot]]

+ * [[plotline]]

+ * [[plottage]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[plotter]]

+ * [[plat]]

+ * [[complot]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}