“Plain” or “Plane”—Which to use?

“Plain” or “Plane”

Overview

plain / plane are similar-sounding terms with different meanings (referred to as homophones). To better understand the differences, see below for definitions, pronunciation guides, and example sentences using each term. 👇

Definitions

plain: (noun) extensive tract of level open land. (adjective) not elaborate or elaborated; simple. (adjective) lacking patterns especially in color. (adjective) not mixed with extraneous elements. (adjective) free from any effort to soften to disguise. (adjective) lacking embellishment or ornamentation.

plane: (noun) (mathematics) an unbounded two-dimensional shape. (noun) a level of existence or development. (noun) a power tool for smoothing or shaping wood. (noun) a carpenter's hand tool with an adjustable blade for smoothing or shaping wood. (verb) cut or remove with or as if with a plane. (verb) travel on the surface of water. (verb) make even or smooth, with or as with a carpenter's plane.

Pronunciation

plain: p·l·EY·n

plane: p·l·EY·n

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Examples in Context

Examples of “plain”

…Levine edited the anticommunist magazine Plain Talk.
Category:Stony Plain Records artists
…up to 3,000 characters of plain text, with the first 300…
…more specifically the central coastal plain of the state, roughly where…
…Savannah in Georgia's Lower Coastal Plain region.
…the west of the walled plain Poincaré, another enormous formation only…
…of musical notation) that uses plain ASCII numbers, letters and symbols.
…rises about above the surrounding plain, and it is the central…
Plain x-rays of the abdomen sometimes…
…entrance to decorate an otherwise plain architectural design.

Examples of “plane”

This plane is selected by moving the…
The TIRS focal plane uses GaAs Quantum Well Infrared…
…against the Nazis and whose plane was shot down here.
…the Far Realm, an entire plane of insanity inspired by Lovecraft's…
2 Koolhoven F.K.52 reconnaissance planes and 1 Douglas DC-2 transport…
Vial was killed in a plane crash in 1943, the year…
…S.71 was a single-seat fighter plane of all-wood construction with jointed
…steam train, I wanted the plane, I wanted the ocean liner…
A light plane flies from Basco Airport to…
…shift lever also has another plane of operation, for manual mode,…

(Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license. Definitions drawn from WordNet.)

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