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plaque

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Etymology and origin of the French word plaque

Confidence
Established
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
1549 Robert Estienne More words from the 16th century
Ultimate origin
Middle Dutch placken
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French plaque
English plaque
Romanian placă

Pronunciation

Forms

plaque f (plural plaques)[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from French plaquer (“to apply flat, to plate”).[2][3][4][5] The verb was borrowed about 1250 from Middle Dutch placken (“to patch, to plaster, to stick”) (modern Dutch plakken),[6][7] itself from placke (“disc, patch, stain”), which Wiktionary traces to Proto-Germanic *plaggą (“patch”).[1] Rey calls the Dutch word of unknown origin and mentions a proposed link with the Indo-European root for “to strike” seen in Latin plāga and plangō.[6][8]

In the 15th century the same spelling named a small coin of Flanders (1425); in that sense the word has a source of its own, being taken from the same Middle Dutch noun in the sense “small coin”.[2][3][7] Littré rejected an older derivation from Ancient Greek πλάξ (pláx, “plank, flat surface”), since the word is not found in the other Romance languages, and followed Diez in calling it Germanic.[9] English plaque was borrowed from the French noun in 1848.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the sense from plaquer it is first recorded in 1549 by Robert Estienne, meaning the plaster or rendering laid on a wall; the sense “flat, thin sheet of a rigid material” follows in 1562, in Antoine Du Pinet's translation of Pliny.[2][3] Earlier still, in 1425, plaque was the name of a small Flemish coin,[2][3] which Villon mentions in his Testament.[9]

Semantic evolution

Bloch and Wartburg note that before the 17th century French used plate for the flat sheet.[7] From the general sense of a thin, flat piece came many particular ones: the iron plate at the back of a fireplace, plaque de cheminée (1680, Richelet),[3][6] a plate bearing an inscription (1690, Furetière), a badge of office or of an order (1798, Académie) and, in photography, the sensitive plate (1842).[2][6]

On the railways plaque tournante named a turntable (1857 in Rey, 1861 in the TLFi), and since 1946 it has been used figuratively for a hub or crossroads.[6][2] The familiar être à côté de la plaque “to miss the point” (1946) comes from military slang, from the plate used as a target in shooting.[6] In medicine the word named a well-defined lesion (1895) and, earlier, a patch on the skin (1852, a Geneva glossary).[2][6] Gamblers used it for a large rectangular chip (1886),[2] and the car's number plate was called plaque or plaque d’identité from 1910, later plaque minéralogique and plaque d’immatriculation.[6][11]

Timeline

  • 1549 – Robert Estienne records it for the rendering on a wall.[2]
  • 1562 – Du Pinet uses it for a flat, thin sheet of rigid material.[2]
  • 1680 – Richelet records the fireback, plaque de cheminée.[3]
  • 1690 – Furetière records a plate bearing an inscription.[2]
  • 1798 – The Académie records the sense “badge”.[2]
  • 1842 – Used of the photographic plate.[2][6]
  • 1848 – English borrows the word as plaque.[10]
  • 1852 – A patch on the skin, in a Geneva glossary.[2]
  • 1857 – Plaque tournante “turntable” on the railways.[6]
  • 1895 – A well-defined lesion, in medicine.[2]
  • 1910 – Plaque for a car's number plate.[6]
  • 1946 – Être à côté de la plaque and the figurative plaque tournante.[6][2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A sheet or plate of a rigid material, flat and thin: une plaque de tôle, une plaque de verglas.[5][12][2]
  2. A flat piece bearing an inscription, such as a door plate or a commemorative plaque.[2][5]
  3. Plaque d’immatriculation: a vehicle's number plate.[1][11]
  4. A badge worn as a mark of office or of an order.[2][9]
  5. A hotplate or burner of a cooker.[12][1]
  6. (photography) A sensitive plate.[2][1]
  7. (medicine) A patch on the skin or a defined lesion;[2][12] plaque dentaire, dental plaque.[2][12]
  8. (geology) A tectonic plate.[1]
  9. (gambling) A large rectangular chip.[2][1]
  10. Plaque tournante: a railway turntable;[2][6] (figurative) a hub.[2][6]
  11. Être à côté de la plaque (familiar): to be wide of the mark.[6][1]

Word family

  • plaquette
  • Middle Dutch placken
  • English plaque

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c 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, 626b
  9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  12. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Plaque.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/plaque. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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