English

place

/ˈpleɪ̯s/
An open space, particularly a city square, market square, or courtyard.

    Etymology graph

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    • derived
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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    From Middle English place, conflation of Old English plæċe (“place, an open space, street”) and Old French place (“place, an open space”), both from Latin platēa (“plaza, wide street”), from Ancient Greek πλατεῖα (plateîa), shortening of πλατεῖα ὁδός (plateîa hodós, “broad way”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“to spread”), extended form of *pleh₂- (“flat”). Displaced native Old English stōw, stede (partially), and -ern. Compare also English pleck (“plot of ground”), West Frisian plak (“place, spot, location”), Dutch plek (“place, spot, patch”). Doublet of piatza, piazza, platz, and plaza.

    In the etymological chain from Latin platēa, note Old French place, which has multiple descendants — including German Platz, itself with many descendants (e.g., Russian плац (plac)). Also note a more distant chain node Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús), whence English Plato and English plate (via Latin).

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English placen, from the noun (see above).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • rootProto-Indo-European*pleth₂- “flat”
    • inheritedMiddle Englishplace
      • inheritedOld Englishplæċe “place, an open space, street”
        • derivedOld Frenchplace “place, an open space”
      • derivedLatinplatea “plaza, wide street”
        • derivedAncient Greekπλᾰτεῖᾰ
    • inheritedMiddle Englishplacen

    Related: English plate, English plaza (doublet), English Plato, English piazza (doublet), English platz (doublet), English piatza (doublet), German Platz, Russian плац, Ancient Greek πλᾰτῠ́ς

    Words built on it: by-place, out of place

    Sources