Searchable Lemmata: pleyn (AF), plaine (ME), plain (AF), plain (OScots), plain (MdE).
Alternate Forms: playn, playne, playnes, pleyn.
1(adj.)
Other;
plain: unadorned fabric or garment without decoration. With reference to armour or clothing: plain, unadorned, simple; unembellished; without padding. Also, used to describe cloth that is plain woven, not twill, without embroidery or pattern, etc. Cf. plain-werk.(ante 1300 still in current use)
1. planetam: pleyn (D) pal (T) pal hairunner (A) / casulam: chape close (CO) cap et pal close (A) cape close (D) chap close (L) pal vel cape cloce (T) ... reculas: de beubelés, beubelés vel jueus, beubloss [sic] , bebielés ... birri: cherouns ... levitonaria: escapeloris, heykis, ekies, heykes, scapoloris, happruns ... armilausas: espaulers, apaulers ... galearia: garland de or (var. chapeus de feutre)
Gloss.
[AND TLL (ii 50) circa 1275/1299]
2. [348] ... Une Nouche dor ove iij greyns des Esmeraudes et noef perles ... j plate dargent pur espices ove le pee ove escuchouns des divers armes, et ij autres plates playnes dargent ... [349] ... iiij peire de alettes desarmes le Counte de Hereford. ... j quintepoint de Hoylaund.
Wills.
[MED Will de Bohun in Archaeol.J.2 (348-349) 1322]
3. Item, x auter clothis of playne and napery; Item, xviii towelles playne and diaperid ... Item, ii copis, i chesepill, ii tunyclis with other ornamentes of blew veluet ... i white tynacle of fustian, i white cloth for the high auter
Accounts.
[MED Doc.in HMC Rep.3 App. (316.A) 1447]
4. Item ij chalons, reed and plonket; þe red with okyn leves yn, þe plonket with rede rose þeryn. ... Þe bed of red worstede with þe hole sile of þe largest assise ...
Y wul and ordeyne þat Elizabeth my wief have an halle and docer and ij costours steyned with þe sege of Troye ... iij cortyns ... ij playn and þe þridde striped with plonket riban
Wills.
[MED Reg.Chichele in Cant.Yk.S.42 ((Lamb 69) 46) 1415]
5. [24] ... It'm i pane paled wt menuer and red gray ... [26] ... Y will and ordeyne þt Elizabeth my wief haue an auterchoith of gold, reed, and blanc, wt silour of reede and blew taffata ... Item, a playn sanap of viij 3erds long
Wills.
[MED Will in Bdf.HRS 2 (24-26) 1415]
Sex: N/A Use: n/a Status: n/a Rank: n/a Ceremonial: No
Body Parts: N/A.
Definite, AF plain, plein/OF playne, pleyn. The OED adds, 'In French the two words plain open and plein full (see plain adj.2) have been confused since the Old French period. Likewise, in English this word is sometimes confused with plain adj.2 (compare sense 2b)' [s.v. 'plain, adj.1'].
WF:
Etym Cog:
References:
