from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Plane \Plane\, n. [F. plane, L. plana. See {Plane}, v. & a.]
1. (Geom.) A surface, real or imaginary, in which, if any two
points are taken, the straight line which joins them lies
wholly in that surface; or a surface, any section of which
by a like surface is a straight line; a surface without
curvature.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Astron.) An ideal surface, conceived as coinciding with,
or containing, some designated astronomical line, circle,
or other curve; as, the plane of an orbit; the plane of
the ecliptic, or of the equator.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Mech.) A block or plate having a perfectly flat surface,
used as a standard of flatness; a surface plate.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Joinery) A tool for smoothing boards or other surfaces of
wood, for forming moldings, etc. It consists of a
smooth-soled stock, usually of wood, from the under side
or face of which projects slightly the steel cutting edge
of a chisel, called the iron, which inclines backward,
with an apperture in front for the escape of shavings; as,
the jack plane; the smoothing plane; the molding plane,
etc.
[1913 Webster]
{Objective plane} (Surv.), the horizontal plane upon which
the object which is to be delineated, or whose place is to
be determined, is supposed to stand.
{Perspective plane}. See {Perspective}.
{Plane at infinity} (Geom.), a plane in which points
infinitely distant are conceived as situated.
{Plane iron}, the cutting chisel of a joiner's plane.
{Plane of polarization}. (Opt.) See {Polarization}.
{Plane of projection}.
(a) The plane on which the projection is made,
corresponding to the perspective plane in perspective;
-- called also principal plane.
(b) (Descriptive Geom.) One of the planes to which points
are referred for the purpose of determining their
relative position in space.
{Plane of refraction} or {Plane of reflection} (Opt.), the
plane in which lie both the incident ray and the refracted
or reflected ray.
[1913 Webster]