Plaque

[plak] /plæk/

noun
1.
a thin, flat plate or tablet of metal, porcelain, etc., intended for ornament, as on a wall, or set in a piece of furniture.
2.
an inscribed commemorative tablet, usually of metal placed on a building, monument, or the like.
3.
a platelike brooch or ornament, especially one worn as the badge of an honorary order.
4.
Anatomy, Pathology. a flat, often raised, patch on the skin or other organ, as on the inner lining of arterial walls in atherosclerosis.
5.
Dentistry. a soft, sticky, whitish matlike film attached to tooth surfaces, formed largely by the growth of bacteria that colonize the teeth.
6.
Bacteriology. a cleared region in a bacterial culture, resulting from lysis of bacteria by bacteriophages.
/plæk; plɑːk/
noun
1.
an ornamental or commemorative inscribed tablet or plate of porcelain, wood, etc
2.
a small flat brooch or badge, as of a club, etc
3.
(pathol) any small abnormal patch on or within the body, such as the typical lesion of psoriasis
4.
short for dental plaque
5.
(bacteriol) a clear area within a bacterial or tissue culture caused by localized destruction of the cells by a bacteriophage or other virus
n.

1848, “ornamental plate or tablet,” from French plaque “metal plate, coin” (15c.), perhaps through Flemish placke “small coin,” from Middle Dutch placke “disk, patch, stain,” related to German Placken “spot, patch” (cf. placard). Meaning “deposit on walls of arteries” is first attested 1891; that of “bacteria deposits on teeth” is 1898.

plaque (plāk)
n.

plaque
(plāk)

plaque [(plak)]

A thin film composed of bacteria, mucus, and food particles that forms on the surfaces of teeth. Plaque contributes to tooth decay and gum disease. Plaque also refers to a combination of cholesterol and lipids that can accumulate on the inside of arteries, causing atherosclerosis.