plinth

P3L1I1N1T1H4
/plɪnθ/

noun

A block or slab upon which a column, pedestal, statue or other structure is based.

“The queen placed the vase on the plinth so the cupbearer could fill it with flowers.”

UncommonScrabble 11

Meanings

nounplinth (plural plinths)

plural plinths

  1. A block or slab upon which a column, pedestal, statue or other structure is based.

    The queen placed the vase on the plinth so the cupbearer could fill it with flowers.

    3 more examples

    There appears to be no definite information about the origin of the two large boulders, mounted on plinths, on the platforms of St. Anne's Park Station, Bristol.

    1948 July and August, “The Why and The Wherefore: Boulders at St Anne's Park Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 280

    The station building forms a street-level portal and ticket hall, connected by staircases and escalators to the sub-surface platforms. The whole structure is designed as a plinth for a future block of buildings above.

    1951 September, “Reconstruction of Sloane Square Station, London”, in Railway Magazine, page 634

    He turned back to the scene before him and the enormous new block of council dwellings. The design was some way after Corbusier but the block was built up on plinths and resembled an Atlantic liner swimming diagonally across the site.

    1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC
  2. The bottom course of a wall.
  3. A base or pedestal beneath a cabinet.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounan architectural support or base (as for a column or statue)

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekπλίνθος“brick”
  2. Latinplinthus
  3. Frenchplinthe
  4. Englishplinth

From French plinthe, from Latin plinthus, from Ancient Greek πλίνθος (plínthos, “brick”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian пиедестал, цокъл
  • пиедестал (piedestal)base for column, pedestal or statue
  • цокъл (cokăl)bottom course of stones supporting a wall
Catalan sòcol, basament
  • sòcolbase for column, pedestal or statue
  • basamentbase for column, pedestal or statue
  • sòcolbottom course of stones supporting a wall
Chinese Mandarin 礎 /础
  • 礎 /础 (chǔ)base for column, pedestal or statue
Czech podstavec, sokl
  • podstavecbase for column, pedestal or statue
  • soklbase for column, pedestal or statue
Danish sokkel
  • sokkelbase for column, pedestal or statue
Dutch sokkel
  • sokkelbase for column, pedestal or statue
Esperanto soklo
  • soklobase for column, pedestal or statue
Finnish jalusta, kivijalka
  • jalustabase for column, pedestal or statue
  • kivijalkabottom course of stones supporting a wall
  • sokkelibottom course of stones supporting a wall
  • jalustabase for a cabinet
  • sokkelibase for a cabinet
French plinthe
  • plinthebase for column, pedestal or statue
German Plinthe, Sockel
  • Plinthebase for column, pedestal or statue
  • Sockelbase for column, pedestal or statue
Icelandic sökull
  • sökullbase for column, pedestal or statue
Italian plinto, zoccolo
  • plintobase for column, pedestal or statue
  • zoccolobottom course of stones supporting a wall
Japanese 台座, 柱礎
  • 台座 (daiza)base for column, pedestal or statue
  • 柱礎 (chuuso)base for column, pedestal or statue
  • 根石 (neishi)base for column, pedestal or statue
Latin plinthus
  • plinthusbase for column, pedestal or statue
Malay alas tiang
  • alas tiangbase for column, pedestal or statue
Norwegian Bokmål sokkel
  • sokkelbase for column, pedestal or statue
Portuguese plinto, alaque
  • plintobase for column, pedestal or statue
  • alaquebase for column, pedestal or statue
  • soclobase for column, pedestal or statue
  • socobase for a cabinet
Russian цо́коль, постаме́нт
  • цо́коль (cókolʹ)base for column, pedestal or statue
  • постаме́нт (postamént)base for column, pedestal or statue
Spanish zócalo, plinto
  • zócalobase for column, pedestal or statue
  • plintobase for column, pedestal or statue
  • orlobase for column, pedestal or statue
Swedish sockel, piedestal
  • sockelbase for column, pedestal or statue
  • piedestalbase for column, pedestal or statue
  • plintbase for column, pedestal or statue
Ukrainian постаме́нт, п'єдестал
  • постаме́нт (postamént)base for column, pedestal or statue
  • п'єдестал (pʺjedestal)base for column, pedestal or statue
  • цо́коль (cókolʹ)bottom course of stones supporting a wall
  • підні́жок (pidnížok)bottom course of stones supporting a wall
  • підму́рок (pidmúrok)bottom course of stones supporting a wall
  • цо́кольна пане́ль (cókolʹna panélʹ)base for a cabinet

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with plinth

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

plinth. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plinth

MLA

“plinth.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plinth. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “plinth,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plinth.

Source: plinth on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.