The difference between Plain and Simple
When used as nouns, plain means a lamentation, whereas simple means a herbal preparation made from one plant, as opposed to something made from more than one plant.
When used as verbs, plain means to complain, whereas simple means to gather simples, i.e., medicinal herbs.
When used as adjectives, plain means flat, level, whereas simple means uncomplicated.
Plain is also adverb with the meaning: simply.
check bellow for the other definitions of Plain and Simple
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Plain as an adjective (now, _, rare, regional):
Flat, level.
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Plain as an adjective (of food):
Simple. Ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation; unembellished. Of just one colour; lacking a pattern. Simple in habits or qualities; unsophisticated, not exceptional, ordinary. Having only few ingredients, or no additional ingredients or seasonings; not elaborate, without toppings or extras. Containing no extended or nonprinting characters (especially in ).
Examples:
"He was dressed simply in plain black clothes."
"a plain tune"
"a plain pink polycotton skirt"
"They're just plain people like you or me."
"Would you like a poppy bagel or a plain bagel?"
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Plain as an adjective:
Obvious. Evident to one's senses or reason; manifest, clear, unmistakable. Downright; total, unmistakable (as intensifier).
Examples:
"His answer was just plain nonsense."
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Plain as an adjective:
Open. Honest and without deception; candid, open; blunt. Clear; unencumbered; equal; fair.
Examples:
"Let me be plain with you: I don't like her."
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Plain as an adjective:
Not unusually beautiful; unattractive.
Examples:
"Throughout high school she worried that she had a rather plain face."
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Plain as an adverb (colloquial):
Simply
Examples:
"It was just plain stupid."
"I plain forgot."
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Plain as a noun (rare, poetic):
A lamentation.
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Plain as a verb (reflexive, obsolete):
To complain.
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Plain as a verb (ambitransitive, now, rare, poetic):
To lament, bewail.
Examples:
"to plain a loss"
"rfquotek Sir J. Harrington"
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Plain as a noun:
An expanse of land with relatively low relief.
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Plain as a noun:
A battlefield.
Examples:
"rfquotek Arbuthnot"
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Plain as a noun (obsolete):
A plane.
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Plain as a verb (obsolete, transitive):
To level; to raze; to make plain or even on the surface.
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Plain as a verb (obsolete, transitive):
To make plain or manifest; to explain.
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Simple as an adjective:
Uncomplicated; taken by itself, with nothing added.
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Simple as an adjective:
Without ornamentation; plain.
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Simple as an adjective:
Free from duplicity; guileless, innocent, straightforward.
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Simple as an adjective:
Undistinguished in social condition; of no special rank.
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Simple as an adjective (now, rare):
Trivial; insignificant.
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Simple as an adjective (now, colloquial):
Feeble-minded; foolish.
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Simple as an adjective (technical):
Structurally uncomplicated. Consisting of one single substance; uncompounded. Of a group: having no normal subgroup. Not compound, but possibly lobed. Using steam only once in its cylinders, in contrast to a compound engine, where steam is used more than once in high-pressure and low-pressure cylinders. Consisting of a single individual or zooid; not compound. Homogenous.
Examples:
"a simple ascidian"
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Simple as an adjective (obsolete):
Mere; not other than; being only.
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Simple as a noun (medicine):
A herbal preparation made from one plant, as opposed to something made from more than one plant.
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Simple as a noun (obsolete):
A term for a physician, derived from the medicinal term above.
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Simple as a noun (logic):
A simple or atomic proposition.
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Simple as a noun (obsolete):
Something not mixed or compounded.
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Simple as a noun (weaving):
A drawloom.
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Simple as a noun (weaving):
Part of the apparatus for raising the heddles of a drawloom.
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Simple as a noun (Roman Catholic):
A feast which is not a double or a semidouble.
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Simple as a verb (transitive, intransitive, archaic):
To gather simples, i.e., medicinal herbs.