platform English · revision 3978

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1550|origins=frm plate-forme}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈplæt.fɔːm/, US /ˈplæt.fɔːrm/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|plate-forme|t=ground plan, diagram]], literally “flat form”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from Old French plat “flat, level” (feminine plate) and forme “form”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It is related to [[plate]], [[plateau]] and [[form]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A plan of action, scheme, design: the 1540s in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) 1550 in the OED and Barnhart, in Bishop Gardiner's letters.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1531.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In geometry it was a plane figure (1551), and also a ground plan or drawing (1550s), senses now obsolete,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) which later went with [[plan]].^(Etymonline) A raised level surface is from the 1550s,^(Etymonline) with the mounting of guns in 1560,^(Barnhart 1988) and of any raised floor of planks from 1727.^(Barnhart 1988) The railway platform is from 1832.^(Etymonline) The American political sense, a statement of a party's policies issued by its convention, is from 1803,^(Etymonline) probably from the literal platform on which politicians stood to speak, and perhaps influenced by the earlier English “set of rules governing church doctrine” (1570s).^(Etymonline) Trench noted that the word had lost this sense in England but kept it in America.^(Trench 1859) In the 19th century it was used generally of public speaking.^(Etymonline) In computing, a platform is the hardware or software on which programs run.^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1531 – first known use.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1550 – a plan of action.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1560 – a gun platform.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1570s – a church's rules of doctrine.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1727 – a raised floor.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1803 – a party's policies.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1832 – a railway platform.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A raised horizontal surface, such as a [[stage]] for speakers or a landing beside railway tracks.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A formal declaration of the principles of a political party.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A place or opportunity for making views known.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # In computing, the basic hardware or software on which applications run.^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004)

+ # A structure for drilling oil at sea.^(AHD)

+ # A thick sole on a shoe.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[platformless]]

+ * [[platform balance]]

+ * [[platform bed]]

+ * [[platform car]]

+ * [[platform rocker]]

+ * [[platform scale]]

+ * [[platform shoe]]

+ * [[platform tennis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[plate]]

+ * [[plateau]]

+ * [[form]]

+ * [[plan]]

+ * [[flat]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}