plaats

Plaats is a Dutch noun meaning "place" or "location." It is used to refer to a physical site, a position in a sequence, or a designated area within a building or landscape. In everyday Dutch, plaats appears in expressions such as "op deze plaats" (at this place), "plaats innemen" (to take one’s seat or position), and "een plek opzoeken" (to seek a place). The word also denotes a settlement or locality; in geographic terms, a "plaats" can refer to a village or locality within a municipality. It is not a formal administrative category in Dutch law, but it is a common, neutral term for inhabited places on maps, in addresses, and in prose.

In toponymy and cartography, plaats is used as a generic label for where something is located. The compound "plaatsnaam" means place name, and many place names in the Netherlands and Belgium incorporate "plaats" or form from it. In legal language, "plaats delict" denotes the crime scene.

Etymology: plaats derives from Old Dutch plats, related to German Platz and English "place." The word ultimately traces to a Proto-Germanic root meaning flat or open space, reflecting its original sense of a certain space or site.