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

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Etymology

Origin of plaque

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

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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

The name on the plaque outside the door is now Harding’s, but the decor — particularly the heavy Hollywood Bowl throw blanket that keeps sliding off the cushions behind him — is not.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

He was greeted with warm applause as he was handed a Premier League presentation box containing a plaque and a medal.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

Wu wanted to determine whether these same compounds might also affect bacteria found in dental plaque.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026

Thirty minutes later, researchers collected another set of plaque samples, this time from teeth that had not been swabbed earlier.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026

And the fanciest plaque of all, with the words “Eighth-Grade Top Scholar Award” carved into the top in gold letters.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

Two blue plaques were unveiled that year in Port Talbot and Pontrhydyfen to commemorate Burton.

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026

Along the way, you can learn about the flora and fauna via informational plaques.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

But in the renovated bathrooms the famous plaques above the urinals — including the one declaring “Charles Bukowski pissed here” — will remain.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

In other words, the brain's response to Alzheimer's pathology may create additional problems beyond those caused by the plaques themselves.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026

There is baseball paraphernalia all over the place: framed posters—all signed—tacked up on the slanted walls, a case full of plaques and trophies, and a rack of variously sized old-school Louisville Slugger bats.

From "Fast Pitch" by Nic Stone

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Related Words

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

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