plan
/plæn/noun, verb
plan is spelled P-L-A-N: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 195 times per million words in written English, the 516th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting PLAN, the name). As a noun, plan means “A drawing showing technical details of a building, machine, etc., with unwanted details omitted, and often using symbols rather than detailed drawing…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of plan is plans.
How many letters and syllables are in plan?
| Letters | 4: P-L-A-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 195 times per million words; the 516th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is plan?
Plan appears 195 times per million words in written English, the 516th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes PLAN, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce plan?
- US /plæn/
- [pleən] ~ [plɛən]
- British /plan/
Plan has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-plan.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with plan?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as plan from its last stressed vowel (/æn/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of plan
- plans plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- planning participle, present
- planned participle, past
- plani-
- plano-
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does plan mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 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.
- 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.
- 5
A subscription to a service.
a phone plan
verb
- 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.
- 4
To make a plan.
They planned for the worst, bringing lots of emergency supplies.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Plan in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | schéma , plan, projet , forfait mobile , projeter , prévoir |
| German | Plan , Tarif , vorhaben , anlegen, planen |
| Portuguese | planta , plano , pretender, tencionar , planear, planejar |
| Spanish | plano , plan , planear , pensar, pretender |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does plan come from?
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”). Doublet of llano, piano, plane, and plain.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).