Etymograph

English

plaque

Plaque comes from French plaque ‘plate, sheet (of metal)’, from Old Dutch *plagga ‘patch’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *plaggą.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*plaggą‘patch’reconstructed
  2. Old Dutchc. 500–1150*plagga‘patch’reconstructed
  3. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500placken‘to patch, beat metal into a thin plate’
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentplaquer‘to plate’
  5. French, derivedc. 1600–presentplaque‘plate, sheet (of metal)’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1953same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*plaggą‘patch’reconstructed
  2. Old Dutchc. 500–1150*plagga‘patch’reconstructed
  3. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500placken‘to patch, beat metal into a thin plate’
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentplaquer‘to plate’
  5. French, derivedc. 1600–presentplaque‘plate, sheet (of metal)’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1953same form

Earliest quotation: 1953, Ian Fleming: “But on this June evening when Bond walked through…”

The story

The word is cognate with Middle Low German placke, plagge (‘small stain, scraps, rags, thin grass’), German Placken (‘spot, patch’), Saterland Frisian plak, plakke (‘a blow, slap’), Swedish plagg (‘clothing, garment’).

Linked words

through Middle Dutch placken ‘to patch, beat metal into a thin plate’

placard, 1 more

Today it means

noun Any flat, thin piece of clay, ivory, metal, etc., used for ornament, or for painting pictures upon, as a dish, plate, slab, etc., hung upon a wall; also, a smaller decoration worn by a person, such as a brooch.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *plaggą / plaque

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