Английский Этимологический словарь - plant

- O.E. plante, from L. planta "sprout, shoot, cutting," perhaps from *plantare "to drive in with the feet, push into the ground with the feet," from planta "sole of the foot." The verb, "put in the ground to grow," is O.E. plantian. Most extended usages are from the verbal sense. Sense of a building "planted" or begun for an industrial process is first attested 1789. Slang meaning "a spy" is first recorded 1812.