ground plane

noun

1. (in perspective drawing) the theoretical horizontal plane receding from the picture plane to the horizon, beginning at the level of the base line.
2. Electricity. a ground plate or an underground mesh of radial wires connected to a vertical antenna ground plane antenna that is grounded in order to provide suitable radiation characteristics.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ground plane¹

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

An assortment of low-water perennials fills in the ground plane, including heartleaf bergenia, bronze sedge and ‘Firefly’ heather with contrasting ‘Blue Jean Baby’ Russian sage and tufted blue fescue.

From Seattle Times

Plazas are nearly empty, long corridors of Roman arches are blank, sharp perspective lines don’t quite match up, which sends the ground plane tilting up and down.

From Los Angeles Times

He attributed the vigor and health of the plants in the summer garden to its location: open and sunny with good air circulation, and a slight tilt to the ground plane that allowed measured drainage.

From Washington Post

“Concentrating more people, even if they’re billionaires, in towers to keep neighbourhoods tight and active is a much smarter way to add space to the city,” she says, “rather than to displace people on the ground plane and move them further out … The problem of people having more money should be addressed by taxes and public policy, not by restricting purchases on multi-million dollar apartments.”

From The Guardian

Like City Center, an earlier, much larger development that replaced the old convention center a few blocks east, Midtown Center offers back to the city some of its ground plane as quasi-public space.

From Washington Post