plein

Dutch

Etymology

From Old French plain, from Latin plānum (“level ground, a plain”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”). Its use for "square" is an innovation, replacing Middle Dutch plaetse in standard language (compare dialectal plaats). Compare English plain, plane, Portuguese chão, Spanish llano.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /plɛi̯n/
  • audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛi̯n

Noun

plein n (plural pleinen, diminutive pleintje n)

  1. square, plaza
    Het plein van ons dorp werd onlangs heraangelegd met nieuwe bloemenperken.
    The square in our village was recently redone with new flowerbeds.

Derived terms

French

Etymology

From Old French plein, from Latin plēnus, from Proto-Italic *plēnos, from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós (“full”). Compare Catalan ple, Esperanto plena, Ido plena, Italian pieno, Portuguese cheio, Romanian plin, Sardinian prenu, Spanish lleno, English plene.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /plɛ̃/
  • audio(file)

Adjective

plein (feminine singular pleine, masculine plural pleins, feminine plural pleines)

  1. full, full up
    La voiture est pleine. ― The car is full.
    C'est plein de légendes. ― It's full of stories
  2. plenty
    Il y a plein de choses à faire. ― There are plenty of things to do.
  3. solid
  4. (of a moon) full
  5. (preceded by en) mid-; middle
    en plein match ― (right) in the middle of a match
    en plein concert ― mid-concert
    en plein essor ― on the rise
    en pleine attaque ― mid-attack
  6. (of an animal) pregnant

Derived terms

Preposition

plein

  1. (somewhat colloquial) in; all over
    Avoir du vin plein sa cave.
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)
    Avoir de l’argent plein ses poches.
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Further reading

Anagrams

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin plēnus.

Adjective

plein m (oblique and nominative feminine singular pleine)

  1. full (at capacity with respect to space)

Descendants

Romansch

Alternative forms
  • (Rumantsch Grischun, Puter, Vallader) plain
  • (Sutsilvan, Surmiran) plagn

Etymology

From Latin plēnus.

Adjective

plein m (feminine singular pleina, masculine plural pleins, feminine plural pleinas)

  1. (Sursilvan) full
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