platou

Forms

platou n (plural platouri)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French plateau, a 19th-century loan.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The French word is formed on plat (“flat”) with the suffix -eau.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is geographical, in the journal Isis of 1859: „Pe platourile cele mari mai către sud găsim Mesopotamia și Siria” “on the great plateaus further south we find Mesopotamia and Syria”.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The DLR's quotations for the landform run from Delavrancea and Vlahuță to the 1960s, with a figurative “plateau of perfection”.^[4] A level piece of ground laid out for a purpose followed, especially a military training ground.^[4][3] The other French senses came in as well: a flat plate on a machine tool that holds the work, a large serving dish, which the DLRLC labels a Gallicism, and a stage in a film studio, often platou de filmare.^[4][6][3] Fashion journalism of the 2000s has talpă platou “platform sole”, after French.^[7]

Timeline

• 1859 – platou “plateau” in the journal Isis.^[2][4]
• 1929 – Șăineanu defines it as level ground on a mountain top.^[8]
• 1955–1957 – the DLRLC records the machine-tool plate, the serving dish and the film set.^[6]
• 2007 – talpă platou “platform sole” in the press.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A plateau, an upland plain; also a military training ground.^[3][2][1]
2. A flat plate, round or rectangular, on which pieces are fixed to be machined; a plate-shaped blank for rolling thin non-ferrous sheet.^[3][2]
3. A large platter of china or metal for bringing food or cakes to the table.^[3][1]
4. A film set, a room in a studio fitted for shooting, often platou de filmare.^[3][2]
5. A raised flat area on part of the body.^[2][5]

Related words

• podiș
• platformă
• plat

Usage notes

Platou continental is the continental shelf.^[9][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 409
3. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 829
4. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. platou
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. platou
6. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 453
7. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. platou
8. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 487
9. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. platou