plaque

plaque

See also: Plaque and plaqué

English

WOTD – 13 December 2018

Etymology

A plaque (sense 2) marking the house in Redondela, Galicia, Spain, where composer Reveriano Soutullo lived

A reddish plaque (sense 6) on the face caused by Bowen’s disease

An illustration of artery walls narrowed by plaques (sense 7.1)

A severe build-up of plaque (sense 7.2) on teeth

Borrowed from French plaque (“plate, sheet (of metal); slab (of marble); bacteria on teeth”), from French plaquer, Middle French plaquer (“to plate”),[1] from Middle Dutch placken (“to patch, beat metal into a thin plate”), from placke (“disk, patch, stain”), from Old Dutch *plagga (“patch”), from Proto-Germanic *plaggą (“patch”).

The word is cognate with Middle Low German placke, plagge (“small stain, scraps, rags, thin grass”), German Placken (“spot, patch”), Saterland Frisian plak, plakke (“a blow, slap”), Swedish plagg (“clothing, garment”). Compare plack.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /plɑːk/, /plæk/
• (Northern England, Scotland) IPA^(key): /plak/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /plæk/, [pʰl̥æk]

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /plaːk/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːk, -æk

Noun

plaque (countable and uncountable, plural plaques)

1. (countable) Any flat, thin piece of clay, ivory, metal, etc., used for ornament, or for painting pictures upon, as a dish, plate, slab, etc., hung upon a wall; also, a smaller decoration worn by a person, such as a brooch.
2. (countable) A piece of flat metal with writing on it, attached to a building, monument, or other structure to remind people of a person or an event.
3. (countable) A small card representing an amount of money, used for betting in casinos; a sort of gaming chip.
   • 1953, Ian Fleming, Casino Royale:

     But on this June evening when Bond walked through the 'kitchen' into the salle privée, it was with a sensation of confidence and cheerful anticipation that he changed a million francs into plaques of fifty mille and took a seat […]

4. (countable, biology) A clearing in a bacterial lawn caused by a virus.
5. (countable, music) In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system: any flat, thin musical instrument.

   blown plaques

   aconcussion plaques

6. (countable, pathology) A broad patch of abnormal tissue distinguishable from surrounding tissue, especially a broad papule (“inflamed, irritated patch”) on the skin.
7. (countable, uncountable, pathology) An abnormal accumulation of material in or on an organ of the body, often associated with disease.

   amyloid plaque

   apleural plaque

   asenile plaque

   1. (countable, uncountable, pathology) An accumulation in artery walls made up of macrophage cells and debris containing lipids, (cholesterol and fatty acids), calcium, and connective tissue; an atheroma.
      • 2013 July–August, Stephen P. Lownie; David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke: These Devices can Spring into Shape Automatically to Open Arteries Blocked with Plaque”, in American Scientist‎, New Haven, Conn.: Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, ISSN 0003-0996, OCLC 891112584, archived from the original on 29 May 2017:

        As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. The reason plaque forms isn't entirely known, but it seems to be related to high levels of cholesterol inducing an inflammatory response, which can also attract and trap more cellular debris over time.

   2. (uncountable, dentistry) An accumulation of biofilm, or bacteria, on teeth, which may develop into dental calculus (tartar).

Derived terms

• antiplaque
• immunoplaque
• intraplaque
• nonplaque
• periplaque
• plaqueless
• plaquette
• plaquing

 

Related terms

• placard
• placula
• plaquet

Translations

flat, thin piece of clay, ivory, metal, etc., used for ornament

Chinese: Mandarin: 匾額／匾额 (zh) (biǎn'é) Finnish: plaketti (fi), levy (fi) German: Plakette (de) f Greek: πλάκα (el) f (pláka) Italian: placca (it) f, piastrina (it) f Persian: پلاک‎ (fa) Polish: płyta (pl) f, tablica (pl) f Russian: бля́шка (ru) f (bljáška), бля́ха (ru) f (bljáxa) Spanish: placa (es)

piece of flat metal with writing on it to remind people of a person or event

Armenian: please add this translation if you can Bashkir: таҡтаташ (taqtataş) Bulgarian: табелка (bg) f (tabelka) Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Danish: mindetavle c Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Estonian: please add this translation if you can Finnish: laatta (fi), muistolaatta French: plaque (fr) f Georgian: please add this translation if you can Greek: πλακέτα (el) f (plakéta) Hungarian: emléktábla (hu) Italian: targa (it) f Latin: tabella f Latvian: please add this translation if you can Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can Norwegian: Bokmål: plakett m Nynorsk: plakett m Polish: tablica pamiątkowa Russian: мемориа́льная доска́ (ru) f (memoriálʹnaja doská), табли́чка (ru) f (tablíčka) Slovak: plaketa Spanish: placa conmemorativa Swedish: plakett (sv) c, minnestavla c Thai: please add this translation if you can

clearing in a bacterial lawn caused by a virus

Finnish: plakki (fi)

flat, thin musical instrument

Finnish: litteä soitin

broad patch of abnormal tissue distinguishable from surrounding tissue, especially a broad papule on the skin

Finnish: läiskä (fi), plakki (fi) Italian: chiazza (it) f, placca (it) f

abnormal accumulation of material in or on an organ of the body, often associated with disease

Finnish: plakki (fi) Italian: placca (it) f, placca (it) f Polish: blaszka (pl) f

accumulation in artery walls — see atheroma

accumulation of biofilm, or bacteria, on teeth

Bulgarian: плака (bg) f (plaka) Chinese: Mandarin: 斑點／斑点 (zh) (bāndiǎn), 牙斑 (yábān) Czech: plak m Danish: plak c Finnish: plakki (fi) French: plaque (fr) f German: Zahnbelag (de) m, Plaque f Greek: πλάκα (el) f (pláka) Hungarian: lepedék (hu), foglepedék, plakk Icelandic: tannsýkla f Italian: placca (it) f Maori: kitokito (referring to the build-up on teeth) Norwegian: Bokmål: plakk n Nynorsk: plakk n Russian: зубно́й ка́мень (ru) m (zubnój kámenʹ) Slovak: povlak Spanish: placa (es) f Swedish: plack Ukrainian: зубний ка́мінь m (zubnyj káminʹ)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Turkish: (please verify) plak (tr)

References

1. “plaque, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2006.

Further reading

• commemorative plaque on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• dental plaque on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• plaque (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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French

Etymology

From Middle Dutch placken (“to patch, beat metal into a thin plate”), from placke (“disk, patch, stain”), from *Old Dutch plagga (“patch”), from Proto-Germanic *plaggą (“patch”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /plak/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ak

Noun

plaque f (plural plaques)

1. sheet, plate (of metal)
2. slab (of marble)
3. (medicine) plaque (bacteria on teeth)

   plaque muqueuse, dentaire ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

4. plaque, slab (ornamental)
5. (casino) chip

   Synonym: jeton

6. (electrics, photography) plate
7. (geology) plate (especially a tectonic plate)
8. slab, bar (of e.g. chocolate)
9. (slang) 10,000 francs

   Synonyms: brique, bâton

10. burner; ring (element on a kitchen stove that generates localized heat for cooking)

Derived terms

• à côté de la plaque
• contreplacage
• contreplaquer
• être à côté de la plaque
• placage
• placard
• placarder
• plaque de four
• plaque d'égout
• plaque de plâtre
• plaque d'immatriculation
• plaquer
• plaque tectonique
• plaque tournante
• plaquette
• sclérose en plaques
• tectonique des plaques

 

Verb

plaque

1. inflection of plaquer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Descendants

• → Portuguese: placa

Further reading

• “plaque”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Spanish

Verb

plaque

1. inflection of placar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative