English → Latin
“plain” in Latin
clārusclear, bright; renowned, famous, famed, distinguished, illustrious, celebrated, glorious; upstanding, respectedmanifestuscaught in the act, plainly guilty; detected in the act, flagrant, plain; obvious, self-evidentperspicuustransparent, clear; evident, manifest, perspicuousēvidēnsapparent, visible, evident, manifest, plain, clearplānuslevel, flat, even; intelligible, clearlūcidusclear, bright, shining, full of light; clear, perspicuous, luciddīlūcidusclear, bright; distinctillūstrisbright, shining, brilliant, lustrous; clear, lucid; illustrious, distinguished, famous, prominentexplicōto unfold, unfurl, uncoil, loosen, undo; to spread out, stretch out, extend, display, deploy; to disentangle, solve, setexprimōto squeeze out; to press (out); to express; to imitate or copy
The English word plain itself goes back to Latin plānus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
plain adj.
Clear, manifest, clarus (clear, to the sight and to the hearing; distinct; figuratively, intelligible): manifestus, perspicuus, evidens (apparent, to the eyes or to the mind): planus (not confused, clear): lucidus, dilucidus, illustris (luminous): explicatus (not intricate): expressus (accurately expressed): distinctus (well-arranged, methodical): a very plain handwriting, litterae compositissimae atque clarissimae (Cic., Att., 6, 9, 1): a plain style, sermo dilucidus or distinctus: a plain pronunciation, os planum or explanatum (opposed to os confusum): a plain speech, oratio plana et evidens; oratio dilucida or illustris: a plain image, expressa effigies or imago: a plain description, dilucida et significans descriptio: plain traces of the crime exist, exstant expressa sceleris vestigia: it is plain, constat; apparet; elucet; liquet (☞ constat refers to a truth made out and fixed; opposed to a wavering fancy or rumor, whereas apparet, elucet, and liquet, denote what is clear and evident; apparet, under the idea of something stepping out of the background into sight; elucet, under that of a light shining out of darkness; liquet, under that of frozen water melted; Döderlein).
Unadorned, simplex; nudus; inornatus.
Mere, bare, merus; nudus.
Level, aequus; planus.
Honest, candidus; apertus; sincerus.
plain s.
planities; aequus et planus locus (level ground): campus (with or without planus or apertus; opposed to a chain of mountains): aequor (any extended surface, frequent in the poets, but found also, in Cic.; e.g., De Div., 1, 42, init.): aequata planities, exaequatio (a place made level; ☞ not planum in the foregoing sense; it is = a plane in geometry: camporum aequor can be applied only to a very large plain, and is somewhat poetical): that dwells, grows, etc., in a plain, campester: the Egyptians and Babylonians inhabited extensive plains, aegyptii et Babylonii in camporum patentium aequoribus habitabant (Cic., loc. cit.).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for plain?
- The usual Latin words for “plain” are clārus, manifestus, perspicuus; also ēvidēns, plānus, lūcidus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.