Etymologically
Log in

plateau

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 03:55. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

plateau m (plural plateaux)[1] Old French platel, plural platiaus, plateaux.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from French plat + -eau, formed in Old French as platel.[4][3][1] The TLFi and Rey give its two main groups of senses numbered articles of their own: the tray, a diminutive of the noun plat (“dish”), found from the 12th century, and the landform, formed from the adjective of the same spelling only in the 18th century; the two were soon confused in technical uses.[4][5] The GLLF regards them as one word.[6]

The adjective comes from Vulgar Latin *plattus, borrowed from Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús, “flat, broad”).[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

As platel it first meant a flat dish or wooden bowl, about 1175;[3][5] in Littré's oldest example, from the Prise d'Orange, a lady is fanned à un platel d'argent “with a silver dish”.[2] The TLFi's first record of the sense “flat support for carrying things” is a manuscript variant of Chrétien de Troyes's Perceval.[4]

Semantic evolution

From the 13th and 14th centuries the word named small bowls and dishes; the modern sense of a tray for carrying food, drinks or letters continued the first one, and by metonymy it also names what is on the tray.[5] The pan of a balance is recorded in 1680 (Richelet), and the figurative offrir sur un plateau “to hand over on a plate” in 1928.[4][5]

The geographical sense began as a military term in 1718 (Académie), a gently sloping height where troops could be placed; from 1796 it meant a stretch of flat high ground, and haut plateau is recorded in 1859.[4][5] In the 19th and 20th centuries it took many technical senses: a flat circular part of a machine (1805), the plate of a clutch (1907), the turntable of a record player (1928).[4] In the theatre it was the stage floor (1895) and in cinema the set (1912), whence its use for a television studio.[4][5] English borrowed plateau “table-land” in 1796.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1175 – Platel “dish, bowl”.[3][5]
  • 1680 – Richelet records the pan of a large balance.[4]
  • 1718 – The Académie records it as a military term for flat raised ground.[4]
  • 1796 – The geographical sense, English takes over the word in the same year.[4][8]
  • 1859 – Haut plateau, in Michelet.[4]
  • 1895 – The stage of a theatre.[4]
  • 1912 – A film set.[4]
  • 1928 – Offrir sur un plateau.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A tray for carrying and serving things; its contents: un plateau de fromages, a cheeseboard.[9][1]
  2. Apporter, servir quelque chose sur un plateau: to hand something over without effort on the other's part.[9][5]
  3. The pan of a balance.[4][9]
  4. (geography) A plateau, an extensive stretch of flat high ground: haut plateau.[4][1]
  5. A flat part of a machine or device: the plate of a clutch, a record-player turntable, the chainring of a bicycle.[4][1]
  6. The stage of a theatre; a film or television set, (by extension) the performers appearing on it.[4][1][6]

Word family

  • plateau-repas
  • platée
  • plat
  • plate-forme
  • aplatir

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert