plaque

[plak]

noun

1. a thin, flat plate or tablet of metal, porcelain, etc., intended for ornament, as on a wall, or set in a piece of furniture.

2. an inscribed commemorative tablet, usually of metal placed on a building, monument, or the like.

3. a platelike brooch or ornament, especially one worn as the badge of an honorary order.

4. Anatomy, Pathology.,  a flat, often raised, patch on the skin or other organ, as on the inner lining of arterial walls in atherosclerosis.

5. Dentistry.,  a soft, sticky, whitish matlike film attached to tooth surfaces, formed largely by the growth of bacteria that colonize the teeth.

6. Bacteriology.,  a cleared region in a bacterial culture, resulting from lysis of bacteria by bacteriophages.

plaque

/ plæk, plɑːk /

noun

1. an ornamental or commemorative inscribed tablet or plate of porcelain, wood, etc

2. a small flat brooch or badge, as of a club, etc

3. pathol any small abnormal patch on or within the body, such as the typical lesion of psoriasis

4. short for dental plaque

5. bacteriol a clear area within a bacterial or tissue culture caused by localized destruction of the cells by a bacteriophage or other virus

plaque

1. A small disk-shaped formation or growth; a patch.

2. A film of mucus and bacteria on the surface of the teeth.

3. A deposit of material in a bodily tissue or organ, especially one of the fatty deposits that collect on the inner lining of an artery wall in atherosclerosis or one of the amyloid deposits that accumulate in the brain in Alzheimer's disease.

plaque

1. A thin film composed of bacteria, mucus, and food particles that forms on the surfaces of teeth. Plaque contributes to tooth decay and gum disease. Plaque also refers to a combination of cholesterol and lipids that can accumulate on the inside of arteries, causing atherosclerosis.

Word History and Origins

Origin of plaque¹

1840–50; < French, noun derivative of plaquer to plate < Middle Dutch placken to patch; placket

Word History and Origins

Origin of plaque¹

C19: from French, from plaquier to plate, from Middle Dutch placken to beat (metal) into a thin plate

Example Sentences

The plaque, she added, “is a beacon of hope.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Or, rather, at her campaign headquarters in Tucson, since she’s been locked out of her congressional office on Capitol Hill — the one her father used, which now has her name on a plaque outside.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Through a series of experiments, the researchers traced the connection to a familiar culprit: amyloid beta, the protein known for forming harmful plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.

Read more on Science Daily

When Jackie Robinson entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, his informational plaque didn’t mention that he had broken baseball’s color line.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

J&J is already working with Protagonist to develop an oral treatment for immune diseases including plaque psoriasis and ulcerative colitis and has the exclusive rights to commercialize the product.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• badge 
• decoration 
• medal 
• nameplate 
• plate 
• slab