Etymology

placard

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Today it means: A sheet of paper or cardboard with a written or printed announcement on one side for display in a public place. Full definition →

Middle English placard ← Middle French placard ← Middle Dutch placken
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*plaggą“a piece of cloth, patch”
  2. Middle Dutch · derived fromplacken
  3. Middle French · derived fromplacard
  4. Middle English · inherited fromplacard“official document”
  5. English todayplacard

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.

Words from the same roots

Middle Dutchplacken all →

plaque

Proto-Germanic*plaggą all →

plaque

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.