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placard

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

7 characters

Language

English

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "placard", 7-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "placard" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "placard" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

placard is aEnglishnoun. It means: A sheet of paper or cardboard with a written or printed announcement on one side for display in a public place. Pronounced /ˈplæk.ɑːd/. Often confused with placed and planar.

Key facts for placard
PropertyValue
Headwordplacard
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈplæk.ɑːd/
Letters7
Frequency rank#41,311
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of placard in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for placard is 7 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈplæk.ɑːd/. Corpus data places it at rank #41,311 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 11 documented wrong-spelling variants for placard, with forms such as "lpacard", "palcard", and "plaacrd". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "placed", "planar", "placid", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English placard (“official document”), from Middle French placard, placart, plaquart (“a placard, a writing pasted on a wall”), from the Old French verb plaquer, plaquier (“to stick or paste, roughcast”), from Middle Dutch placken, plecken (“to … Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is placard, spelled P-L-A-C-A-R-D, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A sheet of paper or cardboard with a written or printed announcement on one side for display in a public place.
  2. 2
    A public proclamation; a manifesto or edict issued by authority.
  3. 3
    Permission given by authority; a license.
  4. 4
    An extra plate on the lower part of the breastplate or backplate of armour.
  5. 5
    A kind of stomacher, often adorned with jewels, worn in the fifteenth century and later.
  6. 6
    The woodwork and frame of the door of a closet etc.

Etymology

From Middle English placard (“official document”), from Middle French placard, placart, plaquart (“a placard, a writing pasted on a wall”), from the Old French verb plaquer, plaquier (“to stick or paste, roughcast”), from Middle Dutch placken, plecken (“to glue or fasten, plaster, patch”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *plaggą (“a piece of cloth, patch”), equivalent to plaque + -ard. Related to Middle Low German placken (“to smear with lime or clay, plaster”), Saterland Frisian Plak, Plakke (“a hit, smack, slap”), German Placken (“a spot, patch”), Icelandic plagg (“a document”), Hebrew פלקט (plakat, “a large sheet of paper, typically with a photo or writing, posted on the wall”), English play. Compare also Modern Dutch plakkaat (“placard”), Saterland Frisian Plakoat (“a placard, poster”). More at play.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: lpacard,palcard,plaacrd,placadr,placardd,placarrd,placcard,placrad,plcaard,pllacard,pplacard

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for placard

Misspelling Variants of "placard"

lpacard7palcard7plaacrd7placadr7placardd8placarrd8placcard8placrad7
Misspelling Variants of "placard"

Frequency rank: #41,311 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "placard"?
"placard" is spelled P-L-A-C-A-R-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈplæk.ɑːd/.
What does "placard" mean?
As a noun, "placard" means: A sheet of paper or cardboard with a written or printed announcement on one side for display in a public place.
What words are commonly confused with "placard"?
"placard" is commonly confused with "placed", "planar", "placid". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "placard"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "placard" is /ˈplæk.ɑːd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "placard"?
From Middle English placard (“official document”), from Middle French placard, placart, plaquart (“a placard, a writing pasted on a wall”), from the Old French verb plaquer, plaquier (“to stick or paste, roughcast”), from Middle Dutch placken, ple... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter P in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.