different between twill vs plain

twill

English

Alternative forms

  • tweel

Etymology

From Middle English twyll, twylle, from Old English twilic (two-threaded), a partial calque of Latin bilix, bilic-, from bis (twice) + licium (thread).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /tw?l/
  • Rhymes: -?l
  • Homophone: 'twill

Noun

twill (countable and uncountable, plural twills)

  1. (weaving) A pattern, characterised by diagonal ridges, created by the regular interlacing of threads of the warp and weft during weaving.
    • 1973, P. R. Lord, M. H. Mohamed, Weaving: Conversion of Yarn to Fabric, 2nd Edition, page 167,
      The twill weave is always given a direction; a right-hand twill is one in which the twill line runs from bottom left to top right and a left-hand twill is one in which the twill line runs from bottom right to top left. The angle of the twill is determined by the amount of shift in the points of interlacing.
    • 2000, Walter S. Sondhelm, 4: Technical fabric structures - 1. Woven fabrics, A. Richard Horrocks, Subhash C. Anand (editors), Handbook of Technical Textiles, page 68,
      Industrial uses of twill fabrics are mainly restricted to simple twills and only simple twills are described here. Broken twills, waved twills, herringbone twills and elongated twills are extensively used for suiting and dress fabrics.
    • 2002, Dianne Rose Jackman, Mary K. Dixon, Jill Condra, The Guide to Textiles for Interiors, page 98,
      Herringbone fabrics are a twill variation having the twill line reversed at regular intervals.
  2. A cloth or portion of cloth woven in such a pattern.
    • 2006, Mark Montano, Carly Sommerstein, Window Treatments and Slipcovers For Dummies, page 33,
      Plain cotton twills, such as canvas, sailcloth, and denim, in mediumweight fabrics, can be a good choice for informal rooms that receive considerable wear and tear, such as rec rooms, dens, playrooms, or children's bedrooms.

Derived terms

  • twill tape

Translations

Verb

twill (third-person singular simple present twills, present participle twilling, simple past and past participle twilled)

  1. (transitive) To weave (cloth, etc.) so as to produce the appearance of diagonal lines or ribs on the surface.

Derived terms

  • twilled

twill From the web:

  • what twill means
  • what twilight character are you
  • what twilight movies are coming to netflix
  • what twilight power do i have
  • what twilight movie is first
  • what twilio does
  • what twilight movie is roslyn in
  • what twilight movie is the baseball scene in


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)

  1. (now rare, regional) Flat, level. [from 14th c.]
    • The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.
  2. Simple.
    1. Ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation; unembellished. [from 14th c.]
    2. Of just one colour; lacking a pattern.
    3. 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
    4. (of food) Having only few ingredients, or no additional ingredients or seasonings; not elaborate, without toppings or extras. [from 17th c.]
    5. (computing) Containing no extended or nonprinting characters (especially in plain text). [from 20th c.]
  3. Obvious.
    1. 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.
    2. Downright; total, unmistakable (as intensifier). [from 14th c.]
  4. Open.
    1. 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.
    2. Clear; unencumbered; equal; fair.
      • 1711, Henry Felton, Dissertation on Reading the Classics
        Our troops beat an army in plain fight.
  5. Not unusually beautiful; unattractive. [from 17th c.]
  6. (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)

  1. (colloquial) Simply.
    It was just plain stupid.
    I plain forgot.
  2. (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)

  1. (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;

Verb

plain (third-person singular simple present plains, present participle plaining, simple past and past participle plained)

  1. (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 […].
  2. (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.
    • 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)

  1. 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
  2. (archaic) Synonym of field in reference to a battlefield.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Arbuthnot to this entry?)
  3. (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)

  1. (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,
    • 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:
  2. (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.

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)

  1. 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)

  1. (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)

  1. full (not empty)

Old French

Etymology 1

From Latin pl?nus.

Adjective

plain m (feminine plaine)

  1. 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
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)

  1. 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)

  1. 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)

  1. (Rumantsch Grischun, Puter, Vallader) full

plain From the web:

  • what plaintiff means
  • what plain mean
  • what plain is directly below the himalayas
  • what plain stretches across europe
  • what plain yogurt is good for dogs
  • what plain yogurt good for
  • what plain jane means
  • what planet is closest to the sun
+1
Share
Pin
Like
Send
Share

you may also like