plaster

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English plaster, also plastre,^[2][3] inherited from Old English plaster (“medicinal plaster”),^[4][5][3][6] probably borrowed from Medieval Latin plastrum,^[4][7][8][6] a shortening of Latin emplastrum (“a plaster”),^{[6][4][9][10]} from Ancient Greek ἔμπλαστρον (émplastron, “salve, plaster”),^[6][11][9] a form used by Galen instead of the more usual ἔμπλαστον (émplaston),^[6][11] from ἐμπλαστός (emplastós, “daubed on”),^[6][11][2] the verbal adjective of ἐμπλάσσω (emplássō, “to smear, plaster up”),^[11][2][12] formed from ἐν- (en-, “in, on”) and πλάσσω (plássō, “to mould, form”).^{[11][6][9][12]} Hoad suggests that the Latin word lost its prefix under the influence of Latin plasticus.^[10][8] In Middle English the word was also borrowed from Anglo-Norman plastre, also plaistre,^[4][3][7] recorded from the second quarter of the 13th century for both building plaster and medical plaster,^[13] and Old French plastre (“building plaster”), now French plâtre;^[4][14][11] the sense of a material for coating walls came into English through French.^[6][12][14] Related Germanic words include Old Saxon plāstar, Old High German pflastar, German Pflaster and Old Norse plástr, the last probably from West Germanic.^[4][8][10] The verb is partly from the noun and partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman plaster (“to plaster”) and Middle French plastrer, in Old French plastrir.^[4][2][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

A medicinal substance spread on a bandage and laid on the skin: in Old English, in Judgement Day II and in the medical texts.^[4][5][3]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense, a healing or soothing measure, and later a short-term remedy, is recorded from 1340.^[4] The building sense, a paste of lime or gypsum, sand and water spread on walls, came from French: Barnhart finds the French form plastre in 1284,^[3] Etymonline dates the sense to about 1300,^[6] and the OED quotes it first from the Wycliffite Bible (before 1382).^[4] The sense of gypsum is from the late 14th century,^[6] and plaster of Paris, first made from the gypsum of Montmartre, is recorded from 1391 in the OED, while Etymonline dates it to the mid-15th century.^[4][6][13] The verb, to cover walls with plaster, is dated to the early 14th century by Etymonline and before 1400 by the OED; to treat with a medical plaster is from before 1398.^[6][4] Later senses of the verb include covering a surface with many things (1585), sticking something onto a surface (1623), flattening the hair (1766, in Goldsmith),^[4] bombing or shelling heavily (1914 in the OED, 1915 in Etymonline) and defeating utterly (1919).^[4][6] The adjective plastered, "very drunk", is attested by 1912.^[6] A plaster saint, a person who makes a show of virtue, is recorded by 1890,^[6] and in 1892 plaster began to be used for a plaster cast.^[4] The form plaister was still standard in the early 19th century, appearing in Johnson's works,^[4] and survives in Scotland and the north of England.^[8][15] In Cheshire a plaster floor was a floor of hard clay in old farmhouses.^[15] In American slang a plaster was a banknote,^[16] and in British racing slang of the 1890s to plaster was to bet heavily.^[16]

Timeline

• before 1000 – a medicinal plaster, in Old English.^[4][3]
• 1284 – plastre, building plaster (Barnhart).^[3]
• 1340 – figurative, a healing or soothing measure.^[4]
• before 1382 – building plaster spread on walls.^[4]
• 1391 – plaster of Paris.^[4]
• before 1398 – verb, to treat with a medical plaster.^[4]
• before 1400 – verb, to cover a wall with plaster.^[4]
• 1585 – verb, to cover a surface with many objects.^[4]
• 1766 – verb, to flatten the hair.^[4]
• 1892 – a plaster cast.^[4]
• 1912 – plastered, very drunk.^[6]
• 1914 – verb, to bomb or shell heavily.^[4]
• 1919 – verb, to defeat utterly.^[4][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A paste of lime or gypsum, sand and water spread on walls and ceilings, which hardens as it dries: Damp had loosened the plaster above the window.^[17][2][4]
2. (British, Australian and New Zealand) An adhesive strip for covering a small wound; a sticking plaster: He put a plaster on the cut on his thumb.^[17]
3. Plaster of Paris, or a cast made of it.^[17][4]
4. A medicinal preparation spread on cloth and laid on the body, as a mustard plaster.^[2][17][4]

Verb

1. To cover a wall, ceiling or the like with plaster.^[17][2][4]
2. To coat or smear something thickly, as if with plaster: She plastered sun cream on the children's shoulders.^[17][2][4]
3. To cover a surface with many things, or stick things all over it: Fans had plastered the fence with posters.^[4]
4. To apply a medical plaster to a wound or sprain.^[2][4]
5. To make hair lie flat with a liquid or cream.^[4]
6. To bomb or shell a target heavily.^[4][6]
7. (slang) To defeat someone utterly.^[4][6]

Word family

• plasterer
• plastery
• plasteriness
• plasterlike
• plasterboard
• plasterwork
• shinplaster
• unplaster

Related words

• plastic
• plasma
• piaster
• plaster of Paris

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c d e f g Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
13. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
14. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
15. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
16. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
17. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins