plaque - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com

A plaque is a sign that memorializes a person or event, such as the plaque on a building noting the person it's named after or the year it was built.

Plaque comes from the French word for "plate," meaning not a dinner plate, but a little brass or tin plate that can be mounted on a wall. If you take a tour of Civil War battlefields, you'll find that historical societies often use plaques to commemorate soldiers or particular events. Plaque is also a hard buildup in the body, like the plaque on your teeth that the dentist likes to scrape off.

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: plaque

1	n	a memorial made of brass
2	n	(pathology) a small abnormal patch on or inside the body

FULL DEFINITIONS OF: plaque

1

n a memorial made of brass

Synonyms:: brass, memorial tablet

Type of:: memorial, monument
a structure erected to commemorate persons or events

2

n (pathology) a small abnormal patch on or inside the body

Types:: amyloid plaque, amyloid protein plaque
a plaque consisting of tangles of amyloid protein in nervous tissue (a pathological mark of Alzheimer's disease); arterial plaque
a fatty deposit inside an arterial wall; characteristic of atherosclerosis; bacterial plaque, dental plaque
a film of mucus and bacteria deposited on the teeth that encourages the development of dental caries

Type of:: dapple, fleck, maculation, patch, speckle, spot
a small contrasting part of something