plate

1、抓住"压平的东西"这一个画面，plate 的意思全能装进去：菜盘是平的、金属板是平的、车牌是钉在车上的平牌、底片底板也是平的；动词 plated 就是"镀上一层平的金属"。
2、它出自希腊 platys「宽的、平的」，同族：platform（一整块平的地方）、plateau（一大片平地=高原）、platypus（扁嘴=鸭嘴兽）。
3、长得像的三个要分开：plate 盘子、plane 飞机/平面、plant 植物。读音是 plate /pleɪt/、plane /pleɪn/、plant 英/plɑːnt/ 美/plænt/。

plate 盘子，盆子，板，金属板，覆盖，电镀

来自古法语plate,薄板，薄金属板，来自拉丁语plata,盘子，金属板，来自希腊语platys,平的，宽的，来自PIE*pele,展开，放平，词源同plan,plain.

plate

plate: [13] Etymologically, a plate is something ‘flat’. It comes from Vulgar Latin *plattus ‘flat’, which may go back to Greek platús ‘broad’ (source of English place, plane the tree, and platypus). It reached English via two separate Old French words, which have since coalesced: first plate, which gives the sense ‘flat sheet’, as in silver plate and plate glass; and then, in the 15th century, plat, ‘dish for food’.

Related forms in English include plateau [18], platform [16] (etymologically a ‘flat form’), platinum [19], platitude [19] (a ‘flat’ or dull remark), and platter [14].
=> flat, place, plane, plateau, platform, platinum, platitude, platter, platypus

plate (n.)

mid-13c., "flat sheet of gold or silver," also "flat, round coin," from Old French plate "thin piece of metal" (late 12c.), from Medieval Latin plata "plate, piece of metal," perhaps via Vulgar Latin *plattus, formed on model of Greek platys "flat, broad" (see plaice (n.)). The cognate in Spanish (plata) and Portuguese (prata) has become the usual word for "silver," superseding argento via shortening of *plata d'argento "plate of silver, coin." Meaning "table utensils" (originally of silver or gold only) is from Middle English. Meaning "shallow dish for food," now usually of china or earthenware, originally of metal or wood, is from mid-15c. Baseball sense is from 1857. Geological sense is first attested 1904; plate tectonics first recorded 1969. Plate-glass first recorded 1727.

plate (v.)

late 14c., from plate (n.). Related: Plated; plating.

1. Garnish the plate with whipped cream rosettes and fresh fruits.

用玫瑰花形的掼奶油和新鲜的水果作配菜点缀盘子。

2. Visitors see the painting from behind a plate glass window.

参观者隔着平板玻璃橱窗欣赏那幅画。

3. On the table beside an empty plate was a pile of books.

桌上空盘子的旁边是一堆书。

4. My waitress whipped the plate away and put down my bill.

我的服务员麻利地撤走盘子并搁下我的账单。

5. They are available in polished brass, antique brass or silver-plate.

它们有哑铜的，古铜的和镀银的。

【dish, plate】
这组词都有“盘子”的意思，其区别是：
dish: 是盘子的总称。
plate: 指供个人分菜食用的盘子。