plane
1 (plān)
[Latin plānum, flat surface from neuter of plānus, flat, N., sense 4, short for aeroplane.]
noun
- Mathematics A surface containing all the straight lines that connect any two points on it.
- A flat or level surface.
- A level of development, existence, or achievement: scholarship on a high plane.
- An airplane or hydroplane.
- A supporting surface of an airplane; an airfoil or wing.
adjective
- Mathematics Of or being a figure lying in a plane: a plane curve.
- Flat; level. See synonyms at level
derivatives
- planéness
- noun
plane
2 (plān)
[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin plāna, from plānāre, to plane, from plānus, flat.]
noun
- A carpenter's tool with an adjustable blade for smoothing and leveling wood.
- A trowel-shaped tool for smoothing the surface of clay, sand, or plaster in a mold.
verb: planed, plan·ing, planes.
transitive verb
- To smooth or finish with or as if with a plane.
- To remove with a plane: plane off the rough edges on a board.
intransitive verb
- To work with a plane.
- To act as a plane.
plane
3 (plān)
[Middle English planen, to glide, soar, from Old French planer, from plain, flat, level; see plain.]
intransitive verb: planed, plan·ing, planes.
- To rise partly out of the water, as a hydroplane does at high speeds.
- To soar or glide.
- To travel by airplane.
plane
4 (plān)
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin platanus, from Greek platanos, perhaps from platus, broad.]
noun
- The plane tree.