plot definition

English plot definition

Etymology

From Middle English plot, plotte, from Old English plot (“a plot of ground”), from Proto-Germanic *plataz, *platjaz (“a patch”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Middle Low German plet (“patch, strip of cloth, rags”), German Bletz (“rags, bits, strip of land”), Gothic 𐍀𐌻𐌰𐍄𐍃 (plats, “a patch, rags”). See also plat. See also complot for an influence on or source of the "secret plan" sense.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /plɒt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /plɑt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒt

Noun

plot (plural plots)

1. (narratology) The course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means. [from 1640s]

   Synonym: storyline

   • c. 1725, Alexander Pope, View of the Epic Poem:

     If the plot or intrigue must be natural, and such as springs from the subject, then the winding up of the plot must be a probable consequence of all that went before.

2. An area or land used for building on or planting on. [from 1550s]

   Synonym: parcel

3. A graph or diagram drawn by hand or produced by a mechanical or electronic device.
   • 2017, Mark Chambers, Tony Holmes, Nakajima B5N ‘Kate’ and B6N ‘Jill’ Units, page 32:

     I was told to fly out on a vector of 100 degrees to meet a strong plot of aircraft 30 miles from the coast.

5. A secret plan to achieve an end, the end or means usually being illegal or otherwise questionable. [from 1580s]

   Synonyms: conspiracy, scheme

   The plot would have enabled them to get a majority on the board.

   The assassination of Lincoln was part of a larger plot.

   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene vi]:

     I have o'erheard a plot of death.

   • 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1:

     O, think what anxious moments pass between / The birth of plots and their last fatal periods!

6. Contrivance; deep reach thought; ability to plot or intrigue.
   • a. 1669, John Denham, On Mr Thomas Killigrew's Return from Venice, and Mr William Murrey's from Scotland:

     a man of much plot

7. Participation in any stratagem or conspiracy.
   • 1644, J[ohn] M[ilton], The Doctrine or Discipline of Divorce: […], 2nd edition, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, book:

     And when Christ saith, Who marries the divorced commits adultery, it is to be understood, if he had any plot in the divorce.

8. A plan; a purpose.
   • 1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC:

     no other plot in their religion but serve God and save their souls

9. (Various fandom slang, euphemistic) Attractive physical attributes of characters involved in a story, originating from ironic juxtaposition with the original meaning (course of the story).

   I'm not sure what's happening in that show, I mainly watch it for the plot.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

plot (third-person singular simple present plots, present participle plotting, simple past and past participle plotted)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To conceive (a crime, misdeed etc).

   They had plotted a robbery.

   They were plotting against the king.

2. (transitive) To trace out (a graph or diagram).

   They plotted the number of edits per day.

3. (transitive) To mark (a point on a graph, chart, etc).

   Every five minutes they plotted their position.

   • 1602, Richard Carew, Survey on Cornwall:

     This treatise plotteth down Cornwall as it now standeth.

Synonyms

• (contrive): becast
• (conceive a crime, etc): scheme
• (an area of land): lot

Derived terms

• replot

1. En

Translations

Anagrams

• OLTP, PTOL, lopt, polt

Albanian plot definition

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁tós (“full”),^[1][2][3] from the root *pleh₁- (“to fill”). Compare Sanskrit प्रात (prātá), Latin com-plētus.

Adverb

plót

1. fully, to full capacity, to the brim

   Synonym: mbushur

   Antonyms: bosh, zbrazët

   me gojën plot ― with one's mouth full

   Dhoma ishte plot. ― The house was full.

2. full, cramped (of people, things, etc.)

   Synonym: mbushur

   Kopshti ishte plot me lule. ― The garden was full of flowers.

3. a lot, much

   Synonyms: shumë, mjaft

4. with everything, lacking nothing. complete, full
5. with a full, complete view

   Është hëna plot. ― It's a full moon.

6. (colloquial) successfully

   Synonym: në shenjë

   Antonym: bosh

7. full of. followed by an indefinite form

   Synonyms: tërë, gjithë

   plot gëzim ― full of joy

8. exactly, precisely

   Synonyms: pikërisht, tamam

   plot dy orë ― exactly two hours

Derived terms

References

Further reading

• “plot”, in FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[1] (in Albanian), 1980

Czech plot definition

Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech plot, from Proto-Slavic *plotъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈplot]

Noun

plot m inan

1. fence

   dřevěný plot ― wooden fence

Declension

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• plot in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• plot in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
• plot in Internetová jazyková příručka

Dutch plot definition

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔt

Verb

plot

1. inflection of plotten:
   1. first/second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

French plot definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /plo/

  • Audio

    (file)

• IPA^(key): /plɔ/ (older, now chiefly Belgium)
• Rhymes: -o, -ɔ

Noun

plot m (plural plots)

1. traffic cone
2. cone used in slalom

Further reading

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

Indonesian plot definition

Etymology

From Dutch plot, from English plot, from Middle English plot, plotte, from Old English plot (“a plot of ground”), from Proto-Germanic *plataz, *platjaz (“a patch”), of uncertain origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈplɔt̚/

Noun

plot (first-person possessive plotku, second-person possessive plotmu, third-person possessive plotnya)

1. (art, literature) plot, storyline: the course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means.

   Synonyms: alur, alur cerita, jalan cerita

Further reading

• “plot” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Luxembourgish plot definition

Verb

plot

1. third-person singular present indicative of ploen
2. second-person plural present indicative of ploen
3. second-person plural imperative of ploen

Polish plot definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /plɔt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔt
• Syllabification: plot

Noun

plot f

1. genitive plural of plota

Serbo-Croatian plot definition

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *plotъ.

Noun

plȏt m (Cyrillic spelling пло̑т)

1. fence

Declension

Further reading

• “plot” in Hrvatski jezični portal
• “plot” in Hrvatski jezični portal

Spanish plot definition

Noun

plot m (plural plots)

1. (story-telling) plot