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placard

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Etymology and origin of the French word placard

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1364 Archives du Nord More words from the 14th century
Ultimate origin
Middle Dutch placken

Pronunciation

Forms

placard m (plural placards)[1] Older spellings include plackart (1410), plaquars (1549, plural), placquars and placart.[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is formed from French plaquer + -ard.[5][6][7][3] The verb, used in diplomatics for applying a seal, is from Middle Dutch placken (“to patch, plaster, stick”).[6][7][8] A coin of the same name, recorded in 1406, has a separate source, Middle Dutch plackaet.[7] The sense “wall cupboard” is found in Marseille from 1785, and the FEW suggests that in this sense it may have been taken from Occitan;[5] Bloch and Wartburg think it arose in the south-west.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1364, in the Archives du Nord, for a letter or other document whose parchment is not folded;[5][6] en placard “unfolded” follows in 1428.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

From the unfolded document the word passed to a written notice put up on a wall for the public (1444, at Liège), and about 1552 to an insulting or seditious bill posted in the streets.[5][6] The affaire des Placards of 1534 keeps this sense in history.[6][9] In printing it named a first proof printed on one side only, in columns (1832).[5][6]

The idea of something applied to a wall gave other senses in the 16th century: a coarse coating of plaster (1549), later a thick layer of any matter (1831) and, at sea, a reinforcing patch on a worn sail (1859).[5][6] In 1572 a document from Toulouse uses it for a piece of joinery rising above a door frame to the ceiling;[5] from about 1748 it meant a recess in a wall closed by a door, a built-in cupboard, which became the main sense and loosened the link with plaquer.[6][9] The figurative mettre au placard “to sideline someone” and slang placard “prison” followed in modern French.[9]

Timeline

  • 1364 – An unfolded letter or document, in the Archives du Nord.[5]
  • 1406 – A coin of the same name, from Middle Dutch.[7]
  • 1444 – A notice posted for the public, at Liège.[5][6]
  • 1534 – The affaire des Placards.[6]
  • 1549 – Estienne records plaquars “wall plaster”.[5][2]
  • 1572 – A piece of joinery above a door frame.[5]
  • c. 1748 – A built-in wall cupboard.[6][9]
  • 1785 – The cupboard sense is recorded at Marseille.[5][7]
  • 1832 – A printer's proof.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A built-in cupboard or closet in a recess of a wall, closed by a door: ranger ses manteaux dans le placard.[9][5][1]
  2. (figurative) Mettre quelqu'un au placard: to sideline someone;[9] un placard doré is such a post with material comforts.[9]
  3. (familiar) Avoir un cadavre dans le placard: to have a shameful secret in one's past.[9]
  4. A notice or poster put up in a public place; in history, an insulting or seditious bill.[9][5]
  5. A large advertisement in a newspaper or magazine: placard publicitaire.[9]
  6. (printing) A galley proof, printed on one side only, without page numbers.[9][5]
  7. (familiar) A thick layer of something;[9][4] (medicine) a patch on the skin: placard d'eczéma.[9][4]
  8. (nautical) A reinforcing patch sewn on a worn sail.[9][5]
  9. (technical) The joinery of a door: porte à placard double.[9][4]
  10. (slang) Prison.[9]

Word family

  • placarder
  • placardiser
  • plaquer
  • plaque
  • placage
  • Middle Dutch placken

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 627b
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

  • boulevard · also from Middle Dutch
  • botte · also from Middle Dutch
  • mannequin · also from Middle Dutch
  • bar · also from Middle Dutch
  • bière · also from Middle Dutch
  • drôle · also from Middle Dutch
  • drogue · also from Middle Dutch
  • bloc · also from Middle Dutch
Cite this entry

“Placard.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/placard. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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