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Added 8 October 2026

plot

/plɒt/ noun

In Latin: argumentum Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about plot at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

The course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
An area or land used for building on or planting on.
A grave.
He's buried in the family plot.

verb

To conceive (a crime, misdeed etc).
They had plotted a robbery.
To trace out (a graph or diagram).
They plotted the number of edits per day.
To mark (a point on a graph, chart, etc).
Every five minutes they plotted their position.

Origin

From Middle English plot, plotte, from late Old English plot (“a plot of ground”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *plataz, *platjaz (“a patch”); or alternatively, perhaps from a rebracketing of Old English land-splott (“small portion, or plot, of ground”) taken as landes-plot (“plot of land”). Compare Middle Low German plet (“patch, strip of cloth, rags”), German Bletz (“rags, bits, strip of land”), and possibly Gothic 𐍀𐌻𐌰𐍄 (plat, “a patch, rags”). See also plat. See also complot for an influence and reinforcement of noun sense 8. Noun sense 12 is a back-formation from for the plot.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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