plané

Plané is a French term that serves as the past participle of the verb planer, and as an adjective describing something that has been planed or that is in a gliding state. The masculine form is plané, the feminine form planée; the plural forms are planés and planées, corresponding to the noun they modify.

In common usage, plané has two primary senses. First, related to motion in air: planer means to glide or hover. A gliding flight is described as un vol plané; an animal or aircraft that has glided may be said to have plané, for example, l'oiseau a plané au-dessus du lac. Second, in woodworking and materials, plané denotes wood or surfaces that have been smoothed by planing; for instance, du bois plané is wood that has been planed.

The term can appear in compound expressions or descriptive phrases, and it also exists as a surname or place name in some contexts, though such uses are not part of the standard definition. Plané is thus a dual-use participle with semantic emphasis either on the completed act of planing or on the result of a prior glide. The related noun planage refers to the act or process of planing, and the verb planer is the basis for all forms.