プレート
Meanings
A flat dish for serving food. Often used in compound words like ディナープレート (dinner plate).
I arranged the food on a large plate.
tectonic plate
Geological term for the large sections of the Earth's crust. Used in phrases like プレートテクトニクス (plate tectonics).
Japan is located at the boundary of four tectonic plates.
home plate; pitcher's mound
Baseball term. ホームプレート is home plate; ピッチャーズプレート is the pitcher's rubber. The gloss 'pitcher's mound' is a common but technically imprecise translation for the rubber.
The runner stepped on home plate.
The pitcher stepped off the rubber.
photographic plate
Historical photography term for a glass or metal plate coated with light-sensitive emulsion. Rare in modern contexts.
19th-century photographs were taken on glass plates.
printing plate
In printing, a plate used to transfer an image or text onto paper. Often part of compound terms like 印刷プレート.
This book was printed using copper plates.
Electronics term for the anode of a vacuum tube. Technical and rarely encountered outside specialized contexts.
Measure the plate voltage of the vacuum tube.
Usage patterns
- 〈物〉にプレートを付けるto attach a (name/license) plate to something
I attached a new license plate to the car.
- プレートに〈物〉を盛るto arrange/serve food on a plate
The chef beautifully arranged the food on the plate.
- プレートが動くfor a tectonic plate to move/shift
Earthquakes occur because tectonic plates move.
- 〈人〉がプレートを踏むfor a pitcher to step on the (pitcher's) plate
The pitcher stepped on the plate and got into his pitching stance.