plate English · revision 4623

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1250|origins=grc πλατύς}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pleɪt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|plate]],^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|plate|t=thin piece of metal]] (late 12th century), a noun use of the feminine of plat “flat”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) and directly [[der|la-med|plata|t=plate, piece of metal; plate armour]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) probably from Vulgar Latin *plattus,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) perhaps formed on the model of [[grc|πλατύς|tr=platús|t=flat, broad]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Cresswell 2021) from [[ine-pro|*pleth₂-|alt=*plat-|t=to spread]].^(Etymonline) Hoad calls Medieval Latin plattus of unknown origin.^(Hoad 1986) The sense “dish” is partly from Old French plat “platter, dish of meat”.^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998) The Spanish cognate plata and Portuguese prata became the usual words for “silver”.^(Etymonline) It is related to [[place]], [[platter]], [[plateau]] and [[platform]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A gold or silver coin, a flat sheet of gold or silver: about 1250 in Barnhart, in Genesis and Exodus,^(Barnhart 1988) the mid-13th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) A flat sheet of metal: about 1290 in the OED, about 1300 in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Plate armour is from the 14th century,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and table utensils, originally only of gold or silver, from the 14th century.^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) A shallow dish for food is from 1415 in Barnhart^(Barnhart 1988) and the mid-15th century in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) at first of metal or wood and now usually of china.^(Etymonline) Articles covered with a plating of precious metal are from the 1540s.^(Etymonline) Plates of other substances are from 1665,^(OED 1989) and in anatomy and zoology thin flat structures from 1658.^(OED 1989) Plate glass is from 1727–41.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) In photography a sheet of glass for the image is from 1840,^(Etymonline) and in baseball home base from 1857.^(Etymonline) The geological plate is from 1904, and ''plate tectonics'' from 1967.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The verb, to cover with metal plates, is from about 1380, in Chaucer,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and to coat with a thin layer of metal from before 1704.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1250 – a gold or silver coin.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1290 – a sheet of metal.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1380 – verb, to cover with plates.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1415 – a dish.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1540s – plated articles.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1727 – plate glass.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1840 – a photographic plate.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1857 – home plate in baseball.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1904 – a tectonic plate.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A flat, usually round dish from which food is eaten or served, or the food on it.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A smooth, flat, thin sheet of metal or other rigid material.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Dishes and utensils made of or coated with gold or silver.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A sheet of metal with a design for printing, or a printed illustration in a book.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(geology)'' Any of the large rigid pieces of the Earth's [[lithosphere]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(baseball)'' [[home plate|alt=Home plate]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A thin layer of metal applied to a surface.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To coat with a thin layer of metal, such as gold or silver.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To cover with armour plates.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[plater]]

+ * [[platelike]]

+ * [[plateless]]

+ * [[electroplate]]

+ * [[plating]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[platter]]

+ * [[plateau]]

+ * [[platform]]

+ * [[platitude]]

+ * [[place]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}