different between run-of-the-mill vs plain
run-of-the-mill
English
Alternative forms
- run of the mill
- run-o’-the-mill, run o’ the mill
Etymology
From 1922; from the fact that product produced by a mill should be uniform and like that of any other similar run.
Adjective
run-of-the-mill (comparative more run-of-the-mill, superlative most run-of-the-mill)
- (figuratively) Ordinary; not special.
- This isn’t your run-of-the-mill refrigerator; you’ll find the extra features well worth the price.
- 1971 November 30, Martin Lapidus, Class Notes: 62, Princeton Alumni Weekly, Volume 72, page 26,
- The other had the most run-of-the-mill news which make some of my recent run-of-the-mill columns appear like the raciest escapist fare.
- 1989, Punch, page 55,
- For a deeper, less familiar philosophy, you have to listen to your more run-of-the-mill dossers, and they don't come more run-of-the-mill than Ratso.
- 1995, Alain Mérot, French Painting in the Seventeenth Century, page 42,
- In one side of the prestigious commissions, public and private, sacred and profane, which could make the name of an artist, there was a more run of the mill style of painting which already enjoyed a vast clientéle at all levels of society.
- 2001, Gabrielle Lord, Death Delights, 2002, unnumbered page,
- Or even more run-of-the-mill murders which usually turn out to be family or business affairs and where someone's usually heard something or, in the case of the more professional killings, someone wants to do a deal.
Antonyms
- (ordinary): cream of the crop
Translations
See also
- common-or-garden (standard)
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plain
English
Pronunciation
- enPR: pl?n, IPA(key): /ple?n/, [p?l?e?n]
- Rhymes: -e?n
- Homophone: plane
Etymology 1
From Middle English pleyn, borrowed from Anglo-Norman pleyn, playn, Middle French plain, plein, and Old French plain, from Latin pl?nus (“flat, even, level, plain”).
Alternative forms
- plaine (obsolete)
Adjective
plain (comparative plainer, superlative plainest)
- (now rare, regional) Flat, level. [from 14th c.]
- The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.
- Simple.
- Ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation; unembellished. [from 14th c.]
- Of just one colour; lacking a pattern.
- Simple in habits or qualities; unsophisticated, not exceptional, ordinary. [from 16th c.]
- 1654, Henry Hammond, Of Fundamentals
- plain yet pious Christians
- 1861, Abraham Lincoln, Message to Congress in Special Session, July 4th
- the plain people
- 1654, Henry Hammond, Of Fundamentals
- (of food) Having only few ingredients, or no additional ingredients or seasonings; not elaborate, without toppings or extras. [from 17th c.]
- (computing) Containing no extended or nonprinting characters (especially in plain text). [from 20th c.]
- Ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation; unembellished. [from 14th c.]
- Obvious.
- Evident to one's senses or reason; manifest, clear, unmistakable. [from 14th c.]
- 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 2, ch. XV, Practical — Devotional
- In fact, by excommunication or persuasion, by impetuosity of driving or adroitness in leading, this Abbot, it is now becoming plain everywhere, is a man that generally remains master at last.
- 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 2, ch. XV, Practical — Devotional
- Downright; total, unmistakable (as intensifier). [from 14th c.]
- Evident to one's senses or reason; manifest, clear, unmistakable. [from 14th c.]
- Open.
- Honest and without deception; candid, open; blunt. [from 14th c.]
- The Quaker was no sooner assured by this fellow of the birth and low fortune of Jones, than all compassion for him vanished; and the honest plain man went home fired with no less indignation than a duke would have felt at receiving an affront from such a person.
- Clear; unencumbered; equal; fair.
- 1711, Henry Felton, Dissertation on Reading the Classics
- Our troops beat an army in plain fight.
- 1711, Henry Felton, Dissertation on Reading the Classics
- Honest and without deception; candid, open; blunt. [from 14th c.]
- Not unusually beautiful; unattractive. [from 17th c.]
- (card games) Not a trump.
Synonyms
- (lacking adornment or ornamentation): no-frills, simple, unadorned, unseasoned; see also Thesaurus:bare-bones
- (of just one colour): monochrome
- (not exceptional): normal, ordinary
- (obvious): blatant, ostensible; see also Thesaurus:obvious or Thesaurus:explicit
- (intensifier): consarn, darned, stinking; see also Thesaurus:damned
- (honest and without deception): frank, sincere; see also Thesaurus:honest
Antonyms
- bells and whistles
- decorative
- exotic
- fancy
- ornate
Derived terms
Related terms
- plane
- planar
Translations
Adverb
plain (not comparable)
- (colloquial) Simply.
- It was just plain stupid.
- I plain forgot.
- (archaic) Plainly; distinctly.
- Tell me plain: do you love me or no?
Etymology 2
From Anglo-Norman plainer, pleiner, variant of Anglo-Norman and Old French pleindre, plaindre, from Latin plangere, present active infinitive of plang?.
Alternative forms
- plein
Noun
plain (plural plains)
- (rare, poetic) A lamentation.
- 1815, Sir Walter Scott, The Lady of the Isles, Canto IV, part IX
- The warrior-threat, the infant's plain,
The mother's screams, were heard in vain;
- The warrior-threat, the infant's plain,
- 1815, Sir Walter Scott, The Lady of the Isles, Canto IV, part IX
Verb
plain (third-person singular simple present plains, present participle plaining, simple past and past participle plained)
- (reflexive, obsolete) To complain. [13th–19th c.]
- c. 1390, William Landland, Piers Plowman, Prologue:
- Persones and parisch prestes · pleyned hem to þe bischop / Þat here parisshes were pore · sith þe pestilence tyme […].
- c. 1390, William Landland, Piers Plowman, Prologue:
- (transitive, intransitive, now rare, poetic) To lament, bewail. [from 14th c.]
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir J. Harrington to this entry?)
- c. 1600, Joseph Hall, Satires
- Thy mother could thee for thy cradle set
Her husband's rusty iron corselet;
Whose jargling sound might rock her babe to rest,
That never plain'd of his uneasy nest.
- Thy mother could thee for thy cradle set
- 1936, Alfred Edward Housman, More Poems, "XXV", lines 5–9
- Then came I crying, and to-day, / With heavier cause to plain, / Depart I into death away, / Not to be born again.
Related terms
Etymology 3
From Old French plain, from Latin pl?num (“level ground, a plain”), neuter substantive from pl?nus (“level, even, flat”). Doublet of llano, piano, and plane.
Noun
plain (plural plains)
- An expanse of land with relatively low relief, usually exclusive of forests, deserts, and wastelands.
- 1961, J. A. Philip. Mimesis in the Sophistês of Plato. In: Proceedings and Transactions of the American Philological Association 92. p. 467.
- For Plato the life of the philosopher is a life of struggle towards the goal of knowledge, towards “searching the heavens and measuring the plains, in all places seeking the nature of everything as a whole”
- Synonyms: flatland, grassland
- Hypernyms: land, terrain
- Hyponyms: prairie, steppe
- 1961, J. A. Philip. Mimesis in the Sophistês of Plato. In: Proceedings and Transactions of the American Philological Association 92. p. 467.
- (archaic) Synonym of field in reference to a battlefield.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Arbuthnot to this entry?)
- (obsolete) Alternative spelling of plane: a flat geometric field.
Usage notes
- As with grassland(s), flatland(s), &c., plains can function as the plural of plain (There are ten principal low plains on Mars) or as its synonym (She lives in the plains), with a vague sense of greater expansiveness.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
Verb
plain (third-person singular simple present plains, present participle plaining, simple past and past participle plained)
- (obsolete, transitive) To level; to raze; to make plain or even on the surface.
- 1594, Christopher Marlowe, Edward II, London: William Jones,[1]
- Frownst thou thereat aspiring Lancaster,
The sworde shall plane the furrowes of thy browes,
- Frownst thou thereat aspiring Lancaster,
- 1612, George Wither, Prince Henrie’s Obsequies, Elegy 24, in Egerton Brydges (editor), Restituta, Volume I, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1814, p. 399,[2]
- Though kept by Rome’s and Mahomet’s chiefe powers;
They should not long detain him there in thrall:
We would rake Europe rather, plain the East;
Dispeople the whole Earth before the doome:
- Though kept by Rome’s and Mahomet’s chiefe powers;
- 1594, Christopher Marlowe, Edward II, London: William Jones,[1]
- (obsolete, transitive) To make plain or manifest; to explain.
- c. 1608, William Shakespeare, Pericles, Act III, Prologue,[3]
- What’s dumb in show, I’ll plain with speech.
- c. 1608, William Shakespeare, Pericles, Act III, Prologue,[3]
Anagrams
- Aplin, Lipan, Palin, Pinal, in lap, lapin, plani-
Dalmatian
Etymology
From Latin pl?nus. Compare Italian pieno, Romansch plain, Romanian plin, French plein.
Adjective
plain (feminine plaina)
- full
French
Etymology
From Old French plain, from Latin pl?nus. Doublet of plan and piano.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pl??/
- Homophones: plains, plein, pleins
Adjective
plain (feminine singular plaine, masculine plural plains, feminine plural plaines)
- (obsolete) plane
Derived terms
- plain-pied
- plain-chant
Further reading
- “plain” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Anagrams
- alpin, lapin
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French plain, from Latin pl?nus.
Adjective
plain m (feminine singular plaine, masculine plural plains, feminine plural plaines)
- full (not empty)
Old French
Etymology 1
From Latin pl?nus.
Adjective
plain m (feminine plaine)
- full (not empty)
- circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:
- De tant come ele l'ot veü,
- Que plains estoit de felenie.
- As she had seen
- He was full of evil
- Antonym: vuit
- circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:
Descendants
- French: plein
Etymology 2
From Latin pl?num (“level ground, a plain”), neuter substantive from pl?nus (“level, even, flat”).
Noun
plain m (oblique plural plainz, nominative singular plainz, nominative plural plain)
- plain (flat area)
Synonyms
- plaine
Descendants
- ? Dutch: plein
- ? Middle English:
- English: plain
- Scots: plain
Etymology 3
From Latin pl?nus (“level, even, flat”).
Adjective
plain m (oblique and nominative feminine singular plaine)
- flat (not even or mountainous)
Romansch
Alternative forms
- plein (Sursilvan)
- plagn (Sutsilvan, Surmiran)
Etymology
From Latin pl?nus.
Adjective
plain m (feminine singular plaina, masculine plural plains, feminine plural plainas)
- (Rumantsch Grischun, Puter, Vallader) full
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