‖plein, noun

/pleɪn/
Origin:
Dutch.
A square or open space; also used as an element in urban place names.
1815 Afr. Court Calendar & Dir.Byl, David, Retailshop, 1, Boereplein.
1815 Afr. Court Calendar & Dir.Louwrie, Gesina, 7, Kerkplein.
1822 W.J. Burchell Trav. I. 73It (sc. the Stadhuis) stands in the middle of the town, on one side of the square called Groente Plein, in which a daily market for vegetables is held.
a1827 D. Carmichael in W.J. Hooker Botanical Misc. (1831) II. 23The Boeren Plein, or Hottentot Square, is situated in the upper part of the town.
1927 C.G. Botha Social Life in Cape Col. 68The large plein or square in front of the church was the market place and the rendezvous of the farmers when they came to the village for business or to church.
a1951 H.C. Bosman Willemsdorp (1977) 96All that was left of Kruger Day were orange peels, and banana skins and pieces of paper littering the church plein.
1983 J.A. Brown White Locusts 61Someone was running across the plein from the postal shanty.
1983 J.A. Brown White Locusts 270Pretoria was hot and steamy as Rawlinson hitched his horses in the broad market plein.
1991 Bulletin (Centre for Science Dev.) Jan.–Feb.Many of Factreton’s ‘pleins’ (a circle of about 12 houses) have between two to three shebeens each.
A square or open space; also used as an element in urban place names.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

18151991

Browse Related Words

By Category

Place and Region Names

By Origin

Dutch
playwhite, nounn.plek, nounn.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English