Plains of Abraham

English

Plains of Abraham in 1784, with the walls in the distance

Etymology

Calque of French Plaines d’Abraham, from plaine + Abraham. Named after Scottish farmer, fisherman and river pilot Abraham Martin, who immigrated to New France from Scotland; the landowner whose field occupied a part of the clifftop plain, along with the military drill field, outside the fortress and city walls.

Proper noun

Plains of Abraham

1. A plain in Quebec city, Quebec, Canada; a riverside plain atop the escarpment at the edge of the Saint-Lawrence River
2. Ellipsis of Battle of the Plains of Abraham., an 1759 battle that resulted in the change in sovereignty of the colonial province of Canada, New France, from the French Crown to the British Crown; becoming the colonial province of Quebec, British North America (later the British colonial province of Canada, thence Dominion of Canada)

   Synonym: Battle of Quebec

Translations

plain

• French: Plaines d’Abraham

battle

• French: Bataille des Plaines d’Abraham

Further reading

• Plains of Abraham on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Battle of the Plains of Abraham on Wikipedia.Wikipedia