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.

• IPA^(key): /plɛi̯n/

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• Hyphenation: plein
• Rhymes: -ɛi̯n
• Homophone: Plein

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.

• → Papiamentu: plenchi, pleintji, pleintsje (from the diminutive), plein

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

• IPA^(key): /plɛ̃/

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• Homophones: plains, plaint, plaints, pleins

plein (feminine 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. (astronomy, 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. (biology, of an animal) pregnant

plein

1. (of the four cardinal points) due

   Aller plein sud ― To go due south

2. (colloquial) a lot, lots of, many

   J'en ai plein du monde ici ― I have lots of people here

plein m (plural pleins)

1. full tank (of gas)
2. downstroke (of a letter)

• faire le plein

plein

1. (somewhat colloquial) in; all over; filling

   Avoir du vin plein sa cave. ― To have wine filling up one's cellar.

   J'ai de l’argent plein mes poches. ― I have money filling up my pockets.

• avoir des étoiles plein les yeux

• “plein”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

• pénil

Inherited from French plein (“full”), from Old French plein, from Latin plēnus, from Proto-Italic *plēnos, from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós (“full”). Compare English plenty.

plein

1. many

• Alcée Fortier, Louisiana Folktales

• plain, playn, pleen, pleyn

From Latin plēnus.

• IPA^(key): /ˈplei̯n/

plein m (oblique and nominative feminine singular pleine)

1. full (at capacity with respect to space)

• plenier

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

From Latin plēnus.

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

1. (Sursilvan) full