Meaning & use
plat book
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableAmerican
a book of maps showing how land is divided into plots, used in property records
Grammar: Countable: use a/an or the, and the plural is plat books. Often written as two words.
Patterns
- a plat book
- in the plat book
- check the plat book
The county clerk looked up the property in the plat book.
According to the plat book, the two lots share a boundary line.
Surveyors often carry a plat book when they visit rural areas.
Word forms
| plural | plat books |
|---|
Common combinations
- county plat book
- The county plat book shows every parcel of land in the area.
- check the plat book
- You should check the plat book before building a fence.
- plat book records
- The plat book records are kept in the courthouse.
- look up in the plat book
- She looked up the address in the plat book to find the owner.
Synonyms and how they differ
- land map
- A land map is a general term for any map of land; a plat book is a specific collection of such maps used for legal property records.
- cadastral map
- A cadastral map is a technical term for a map showing property boundaries, often used in official surveying; plat book is the everyday American term for a book of these maps.
Word family
Commonly confused: plat book or plot?
plat book vs plot
A plot is a small piece of land, or the story of a book; a plat is a map of land. They sound similar but mean different things.
Practice
What is a plat book used for?
Choose one answer.
A plat book contains maps that show how land is divided into plots, so it is used for property records. The other options describe books with completely different purposes.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “plat book”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.