plan

name

1. Abbreviation of People's Liberation Army Navy The national navy of the People's Republic of China.
2. A particular standardized examination taken by high-school students.

noun

Etymology: Borrowed from French plan (“flat surface, ground plot, map”), from Latin plānus. Some sources also argue for influence or alteration of French plant, from plantar, from Latin plantāre (“set, fix in place”). Compare plane, plain.

1. A drawing showing technical details of a building, machine, etc., with unwanted details omitted, and often using symbols rather than detailed drawing to represent doors, valves, etc.

   “The plans for many important buildings were once publicly available.”

2. A set of intended actions, usually mutually related, through which one expects to achieve a goal.

   “He didn't really have a plan; he had a goal and a habit of control.”

   “Sweet darling, don't you know somewhere / In the land where plans are made / Someone has written a story / Put down the pen and turn the page”

3. A two-dimensional drawing of a building as seen from above with obscuring or irrelevant details such as roof removed, or of a floor of a building, revealing the internal layout; as distinct from the elevation.

   “Seen in plan, the building had numerous passageways not apparent to visitors.”

4. A method; a way of procedure; a custom.

   “The simple plan, / That they should take who have the power, / And they should keep who can.”

5. A subscription to a service.

   “a phone plan”

   “an Internet plan”

verb

Etymology: Borrowed from French plan (“flat surface, ground plot, map”), from Latin plānus. Some sources also argue for influence or alteration of French plant, from plantar, from Latin plantāre (“set, fix in place”). Compare plane, plain.

1. To design (a building, machine, etc.).

   “The architect planned the building for the client.”

2. To create a plan for.

   “They jointly planned the project in phases, with good detail for the first month.”

3. To intend.

   “He planned to go, but work intervened.”

   “It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.”

4. To make a plan.

   “They planned for the worst, bringing lots of emergency supplies.”