Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PLOT, n.² [The French retain this word in the compounds complot, comploter; Arm. complod, complodi. It may be from the root of plait, to weave, Russ. pletu; whence opletayu, to plait, to twist, to deceive; oplot, a hedge. See Plait.]

1. Any scheme, stratagem or plan of a complicated nature, or consisting of many parts, adapted to the accomplishment of some purpose, usually a mischievous one. A plot may be formed by a single person or by numbers. In the latter case, it is a conspiracy or an intrigue. The latter word more generally denotes a scheme directed against individuals; the former against the government. But this distinction is not always observed. O think what anxious moments pass between / The birth of plots, and their last fatal periods! – Addison.
2. In dramatic writings, the knot or intrigue; the story of a play, comprising a complication of incidents which are at last unfolded by unexpected means. If the plot or intrigue must be natural, and such as springs from the subject, the winding up of the plat must be a probable consequence of all that went before. – Pope.
3. Contrivance; deep reach of thought; ability to plot. A man of much plot. – Denham.