Meanings
alternative plein-air
- not comparablepaintingDone outdoors.
The next day, I began sketching out a new painting. I didn't need a photograph or a plein air study; the image was with me all the time, floating at the edge of my consciousness.
2021, Ed Tarkington, The Fortunate Ones, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, page 871 more example
The general editor, Dr William Ruminant, directing the full resources of his Institute, operating at the highest levels of textual terrain, could care less for the plein air scenics of mere biography.
2014, Guy Mantis, “Afterword”, in Page Nelson, edited by William Ruminant, A Book of Emblems […], revised edition, Another Sparrow Press, →ISBN, page 1
Origin
- Frenchplein air
- Englishplein air
Borrowed from French plein air.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
plein air. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plein%20air
“plein air.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plein%20air. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “plein air,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plein%20air.
Source: plein air on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.