Meaning & use
plaquette
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Meanings
nouncountable
A small, flat, rectangular block of something, most often a thin bar of chocolate or a portion of butter.
Grammar: Takes a: a plaquette of chocolate; plural plaquettes.
Patterns
- a plaquette of something
The café served each espresso with a plaquette of dark chocolate on the saucer.
She sliced a plaquette of butter into the warm pan.
The gift box held six plaquettes in different flavours.
nouncountablespecialist
A small decorative plaque or relief, usually a medal-like piece of metal, mounted or given as a commemoration.
Grammar: Appears mainly in art, coin and medal collecting.
Patterns
- a plaquette by someone
The museum owns a bronze plaquette showing a Renaissance duke in profile.
Collectors prize the tiny plaquettes made by that sculptor.
A silver plaquette was set into the lid of the box.
nouncountablemedical
A flat blister-style card of tablets, especially birth-control pills, as sold in some European countries.
Grammar: Mostly seen in translations from French or in discussion of European pharmacy packaging.
Patterns
- a plaquette of pills
The pharmacist handed her a plaquette containing twenty-one tablets.
Each plaquette is marked with the days of the week.
He kept a spare plaquette in the bathroom cabinet.
Word forms
| plural | plaquettes |
|---|
Common combinations
- a plaquette of chocolate
- A plaquette of chocolate came with the bill.
- a bronze plaquette
- The sculptor cast a bronze plaquette of his mother.
- a commemorative plaquette
- They gave each guest a commemorative plaquette.
- a plaquette of butter
- Use a plaquette of butter for the sauce.
Synonyms and how they differ
- plaque
- A plaque is usually larger and fixed to a wall or presented as an award, whereas a plaquette is small enough to hold.
- tablet
- Tablet can mean a flat slab of metal or chocolate too, but it is the more general, everyday word.
- bar
- A bar of chocolate is the common word, while plaquette sounds more refined and suggests a thin, neat piece.
Word family
Commonly confused: plaquette or platelet? plaquette or plaque?
plaquette vs platelet
A platelet is a tiny cell fragment in blood that helps it clot, while a plaquette is a small flat block or plaque.
plaquette vs plaque
Plaque is the ordinary English word for a flat commemorative plate, while plaquette is a rarer diminutive.
Practice
The waiter placed a small ____ of dark chocolate beside each cup of coffee.
Choose one answer.
A plaquette is a small flat piece of chocolate. A platelet is a blood cell, and a palette is a board for mixing paint, so neither fits.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “plaquette”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.