Etymograph

English

plene

Plene comes from Latin plēnus ‘full’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-1‘to fill’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₁nós2‘full’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plēnos2‘full’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplēnus3‘full’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1671plene3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin plenus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English plene
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1671, Robert MacWard: “Yet, Sir, think you, that your Omission, must so…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós‘to fill’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₁nósWiktionary, Latin plenus‘full’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plēnosWiktionary, Latin plenus‘full’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplēnusWiktionary, English plene‘full’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1671pleneWiktionary, English plene. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1671, Robert MacWard: “Yet, Sir, think you, that your Omission, must so…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’

people, public, popular, complete, plus, supply, poll, folk, accomplish, completion, manipulation, comply, implement, supplement, plural, complement, puri, plethora, depletion, volk, replete, deplete, plebs, plebeian, 74 more

through Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós ‘full’

full, fill, fulsome, 20 more

through Latin plēnus ‘full’

plain, plenty, ample, amplitude, amplify, replenish, plenary, plenum, 14 more

Today it means

adv With matres lectionis (letters indicating vowels) written out.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “plene”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós, Latin plenus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- / plene

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