Dictionary.net

pl[=a]n'-tr[=e], n. any one of the several trees constituting the genus Platanus, esp. the oriental or common plane-tree, with its variety the maple-leaved plane-tree, and the American plane-tree, usually called sycamore or buttonwood or buttonball: in Great Britain, the sycamore maple. [Fr. plane--L. platanus--Gr. platanos--platys, broad.]

n. [Latin] A tree of the genus Platanus, native of Asia and North America, but now largely cultivated in this country—the wood is fine granted, hard, but brittle.