plaque

/plæk/

//plæk// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"plaque" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“plaque” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,437. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#11,437
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any flat, thin piece of clay, ivory, metal, etc., used for ornament, or for painting pictures upon, as a dish, plate, slab, etc., hung upon a wall; also, a smaller decoration worn by a person, such...

Corpus desk

Index EN-plaque · plaque · English

plaque · rank #11,437 · 8 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #11,437
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH persona

Nearest frequency peer: persona (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “plaque”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “plaque” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

plaque vs plate
67% similar
plaque vs Prague
50% similar
plaque vs Platte
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for plaque
PropertyValue
Headwordplaque
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/plæk/
Letters6
Frequency rank#11,437
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “plaque”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).plaquelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “persona” (#11,436), “Patterson” (#11,435), “Plymouth” (#11,439). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “plaque” is #11,437. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around plaque (IPA /plæk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #11,437 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for plaque, with forms such as "lpaque", "palque", and "plaqeu". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "plate", "Prague", "Platte", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from French plaque (“plate, sheet (of metal); slab (of marble); bacteria on teeth”), from French plaquer, Middle French plaquer (“to plate”), from Middle Dutch placken (“to patch, beat metal into a thin plate”), from placke (“disk, patch… The correct English form is plaque, spelled P-L-A-Q-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any flat, thin piece of clay, ivory, metal, etc., used for ornament, or for painting pictures upon, as a dish, plate, slab, etc., hung upon a wall; also, a smaller decoration worn by a person, such as a brooch.
  2. 2
    A piece of flat metal with writing on it, attached to a building, monument, or other structure to remind people of a person or an event.
  3. 3
    A small card representing an amount of money, used for betting in casinos; a sort of gaming chip.
  4. 4
    A clearing in a bacterial lawn caused by a virus.
  5. 5
    In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system: any flat, thin musical instrument.
  6. 6
    A broad patch of abnormal tissue distinguishable from surrounding tissue, especially a broad papule (“inflamed, irritated patch”) on the skin.
  7. 7
    An abnormal accumulation of material in or on an organ of the body, often associated with disease.
  8. 8
    An abnormal accumulation of material in or on an organ of the body, often associated with disease.
  9. 9
    An abnormal accumulation of material in or on an organ of the body, often associated with disease.
  10. 10
    An abnormal accumulation of material in or on an organ of the body, often associated with disease.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how plaque appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. But on this June evening when Bond walked through the 'kitchen' into the salle privée, it was with a sensation of confidence and cheerful anticipation that he changed a million francs into plaques of fifty mille and took a seat […]
  2. blown plaques

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French plaque (“plate, sheet (of metal); slab (of marble); bacteria on teeth”), from French plaquer, Middle French plaquer (“to plate”), from Middle Dutch placken (“to patch, beat metal into a thin plate”), from placke (“disk, patch, stain”), from Old Dutch *plagga (“patch”), from Proto-Germanic *plaggą (“patch”). The word is cognate with Middle Low German placke, plagge (“small stain, scraps, rags, thin grass”), German Placken (“spot, patch”), Saterland Frisian plak, plakke (“a blow, slap”), Swedish plagg (“clothing, garment”). Compare plack.

This word in other languages

placa(Español)plaque(Français)Plakette(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • lpaque
  • palque
  • plaqeu
  • plaqque
  • plauqe
  • pllaque
  • plqaue
  • pplaque

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of plaque - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

lpaque2palque2plaqeu2plaqque1plauqe2pllaque1plqaue2pplaque1
Edit distance from "plaque"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "plaque"?
"plaque" is spelled P-L-A-Q-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is /plæk/.
What does "plaque" mean?
As a noun, "plaque" means: Any flat, thin piece of clay, ivory, metal, etc., used for ornament, or for painting pictures upon, as a dish, plate, slab, etc., hung upon a wall; also, a smaller decoration worn by a person, such...
What words are commonly confused with "plaque"?
"plaque" is commonly confused with "plate", "Prague", "Platte". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "plaque"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "plaque" is /plæk/. 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 "plaque"?
Unadapted borrowing from French plaque (“plate, sheet (of metal); slab (of marble); bacteria on teeth”), from French plaquer, Middle French plaquer (“to plate”), from Middle Dutch placken (“to patch, beat metal into a thin plate”), from placke (“d... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "plaque", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

poetic#11,440preach#11,441Nissan#11,431Punjab#11,445

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

scrub8 variantshoused8 variantsflock8 variantsfallout8 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list