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

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 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

The museum’s panorama of ageless ambience is this summer enhanced by increased yet snappy security and a handsome “John Williams Stage” plaque honoring L.A.’s beloved composer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026

Unlike standard cholesterol tests, apoB measures the number of cholesterol carrying particles that can contribute to plaque buildup.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 6, 2026

There was a sign hanging on the door of Mo’s workshop, a small metal plaque.

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke

One especially important transition separated regions dominated by amyloid-β plaques from those associated with tau pathology and neurodegeneration.

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

One group had a genetic tendency to develop amyloid plaques, while the other consisted of "wild-type" mice that aged normally.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026

Additional plaques may not produce a proportional increase in sleep disruption.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026

Penelope could read the names off the engraved brass plaques mounted below each painting: Admiral Percival Racine Ashton.

From "The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Wood

Related Words

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