plaque

American  

[plak] / plæk /

noun

• plaques
  plural

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.

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plaque British  

/ 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

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plaque Scientific  

/ plăk /

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.

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plaque Cultural  

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.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• plaques
  plural

Etymology

Origin of plaque

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

Explanation

A plaque is a sign that memorializes a person or event, such as the plaque on a building noting the person it's named after or the year it was built. Plaque comes from the French word for "plate," meaning not a dinner plate, but a little brass or tin plate that can be mounted on a wall. If you take a tour of Civil War battlefields, you'll find that historical societies often use plaques to commemorate soldiers or particular events. Plaque is also a hard buildup in the body, like the plaque on your teeth that the dentist likes to scrape off.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

plaque plaques

Crabb previously clinched a Manhattan Beach Pier bronze plaque, but it was Benesh’s first time winning the open.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

The procedures remove plaque below the gumline and disrupt bacterial biofilms that contribute to gum inflammation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

The school also plans to add a plaque to the facility that denotes that it stands on the ground where Brian Kennedy Field once stood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

The King unveiled a plaque marking the 75th anniversary of Cambridge being granted city status by his grandfather King George VI, before calling the visit a "pleasure".

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

Ollie stops, pretending to read a plaque on a wall, but I've used this trick myself enough to recognize he's creating distance so the other couple won't hear him.

From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse

I recently was walking along 41st Street near the New York Public Library in Manhattan, where the sidewalks are inset with bronze plaques highlighting the power of words.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Even some of the bathrooms bear plaques from donors eager to get their name somewhere in the building.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

Some people accumulate substantial amounts of plaques and tangles yet remain cognitively healthy.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026

On Sunday, they’ll finally get their Hall of Fame plaques and join the special fraternity that has already welcomed them warmly.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

Polished marble floors reflected the golden plaques hanging from the walls.

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

Related Words

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