plaat

Plaat is a Dutch noun with several related senses tied to flat, thin objects. In everyday use it most often refers to a plate for eating, but the word also covers sheets or panels of material, such as metal, glass, plastic, or wood (een metalen plaat, een glasplaat). It is also the informal term for a vinyl record (een plaat) in music culture.

In science and industry, plaat denotes a flat sheet or plate used as a component or workpiece, for example metal plates in construction or machinery, glass plates in optics, and plastic plates in manufacturing (plaatwerk, glasplaat). In printing and graphics, a printing or engraving plate used to transfer an image is historically called een plaat; in modern contexts more specific terms such as drukplaat are common, but plaat remains understood in some technical or historical writings.

Geology uses the term in the sense of tectonics: aardplaat or tektonische plaat refers to one of the large rigid sections that make up the lithosphere and move relative to other plates. The plural aardplaten is standard in this field.

In biology and medicine, the word is less common by itself, but it appears in compounds such as bloedplaatje for platelet, with bloedplaatjes being the more typical form. The origin of plaat lies in the broader Dutch sense of a flat surface or object; cognate with German Platte and related to the general English word plate.

Common phrases and usage reflect its versatility, from everyday tableware to technical terms in science and industry.