plate: [13] Etymologically, a plate is something ‘flat’. It comes from Vulgar Latin *plattus ‘flat’, which may go back to Greek platús ‘broad’ (source of English place, plane the tree, and platypus). It reached English via two separate Old French words, which have since coalesced: first plate, which gives the sense ‘flat sheet’, as in silver plate and plate glass; and then, in the 15th century, plat, ‘dish for food’.
Related forms in English include plateau [18], platform [16] (etymologically a ‘flat form’), platinum [19], platitude [19] (a ‘flat’ or dull remark), and platter [14]. => flat, place, plane, plateau, platform, platinum, platitude, platter, platypus
plate (n.)
mid-13c., "flat sheet of gold or silver," also "flat, round coin," from Old French plate "thin piece of metal" (late 12c.), from Medieval Latin plata "plate, piece of metal," perhaps via Vulgar Latin *plattus, formed on model of Greek platys "flat, broad" (see plaice (n.)). The cognate in Spanish (plata) and Portuguese (prata) has become the usual word for "silver," superseding argento via shortening of *plata d'argento "plate of silver, coin." Meaning "table utensils" (originally of silver or gold only) is from Middle English. Meaning "shallow dish for food," now usually of china or earthenware, originally of metal or wood, is from mid-15c. Baseball sense is from 1857. Geological sense is first attested 1904; plate tectonics first recorded 1969. Plate-glass first recorded 1727.
plate (v.)
late 14c., from plate (n.). Related: Plated; plating.
双语例句
1. Garnish the plate with whipped cream rosettes and fresh fruits.
用玫瑰花形的掼奶油和新鲜的水果作配菜点缀盘子。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Visitors see the painting from behind a plate glass window.
参观者隔着平板玻璃橱窗欣赏那幅画。
来自柯林斯例句
3. On the table beside an empty plate was a pile of books.
桌上空盘子的旁边是一堆书。
来自柯林斯例句
4. My waitress whipped the plate away and put down my bill.
我的服务员麻利地撤走盘子并搁下我的账单。
来自柯林斯例句
5. They are available in polished brass, antique brass or silver-plate.