place

See also: Appendix:Variations of "place"

English

Alternative forms

  • pleace (some English dialects: 18th–19th centuries; Scots: until the 17th century)

Pronunciation

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 platea (“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, and plaza.

Noun

place (countable and uncountable, plural places)

  1. (physical) An area; somewhere within an area.
    1. An open space, particularly a city square, market square, or courtyard.
    2. (often in street names or addresses) A street, sometimes but not always surrounding a public place, square, or plaza of the same name.
      They live at Westminster Place.
    3. An inhabited area: a village, town, or city.
    4. Any area of the earth: a region.
      He is going back to his native place on vacation.
      • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
        From another point of view, it was a place without a soul. The well-to-do had hearts of stone; the rich were brutally bumptious; the Press, the Municipality, all the public men, were ridiculously, vaingloriously self-satisfied.
    5. The area one occupies, particularly somewhere to sit.
      We asked the restaurant to give us a table with three places.
    6. The area where one lives: one's home, formerly (chiefly) country estates and farms.
      Do you want to come over to my place later?
    7. An area of the body, especially the skin.
      Which place hurts the most?
    8. (euphemistic slang) An area to urinate and defecate: an outhouse or lavatory.
    9. (obsolete) An area to fight: a battlefield or the contested ground in a battle.
  2. A location or position in space.
    • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene v]:
      In that same place thou hast appointed me,
      To-morrow truly will I meete with thee.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
      What place can be for us / Within heaven's bound?
    • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter V, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
      When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose. And the queerer the cure for those ailings the bigger the attraction. A place like the Right Livers' Rest was bound to draw freaks, same as molasses draws flies.
    • 1935, George Goodchild, chapter 5, in Death on the Centre Court:
      By one o'clock the place was choc-a-bloc. […] The restaurant was packed, and the promenade between the two main courts and the subsidiary courts was thronged with healthy-looking youngish people, drawn to the Mecca of tennis from all parts of the country.
  3. A particular location in a book or document, particularly the current location of a reader
    I lost my place when you interrupted me.
  4. (obsolete) A passage or extract from a book or document.
  5. (obsolete, rhetoric) A topic.
  6. A state of mind.
    I'm in a strange place at the moment.
  7. (chess, obsolete) A chess position; a square of the chessboard.
  8. (social) A responsibility or position in an organization.
    1. A role or purpose; a station.
      It is really not my place to say what is right and wrong in this case.
      • c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene v]:
        I know my place as I would they should do theirs.
      • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
        Escalus.Esc.I shall desire you, Sir, to giue me leaue
        To haue free speech with you; and it concernes me
        To looke into the bottome of my place :
        A powre I haue, but of what strength and nature,
        I am not yet instructed.
      • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Great Place”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
        Men in great place are thrice servants.
      • 2013 August 10, Lexington, “Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
        The [Washington] Post's proprietor through those turbulent [Watergate] days, Katharine Graham, held a double place in Washington’s hierarchy: at once regal Georgetown hostess and scrappy newshound, ready to hold the establishment to account.
    2. The position of a contestant in a competition.
      We thought we would win but only ended up in fourth place.
    3. (horse racing) The position of first, second, or third at the finish, especially the second position.
      to win a bet on a horse for place
    4. The position as a member of a sports team.
      He lost his place in the national team.
  9. (obsolete) A fortified position: a fortress, citadel, or walled town.
  10. Numerically, the column counting a certain quantity.
    three decimal places;  the hundreds place
  11. Ordinal relation; position in the order of proceeding.
    That's what I said in the first place!
    • a. 1788, Mather Byles, quoted in The Life of James Otis by William Tudor
      In the first place, I do not understand politics; in the second place, you all do, every man and mother's son of you; in the third place, you have politics all the week, pray let one day in the seven be devoted to religion […]
  12. Reception; effect; implying the making room for.
Synonyms
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Pijin: ples
  • Tok Pisin: ples
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Etymology 2

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

    Verb

    place (third-person singular simple present places, present participle placing, simple past and past participle placed)

    1. (transitive) To put (someone or something) in a specific location.
      Synonyms: lay, lay down, put down, set down, deposit, have, set
      He placed the glass on the table.
      to place someone on a pedestal
      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 28, page 53:
        His life vvas nigh vnto deaths dore yplaſte, / And thred-bare cote, and cobled ſhoes hee vvare, […]
      • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter XIX, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
        Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.
      • 2013 May-June, Charles T. Ambrose, “Alzheimer’s Disease”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 200:
        Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems— […]. Such a slow-release device containing angiogenic factors could be placed on the pia mater covering the cerebral cortex and tested in persons with senile dementia in long term studies.
    2. (ergative) To earn a given spot in a competition; to rank at a certain position ((often followed by an ordinal)).
      The Cowboys placed third in the league.
      Run Ragged was placed fourth in the race.
      1. (intransitive, motor racing) To finish second, especially of horses or dogs.
        In the third race: Aces Up won, paying eight dollars; Blarney Stone placed, paying three dollars; and Cinnamon showed, paying five dollars.
    3. (transitive) To remember where and when (an object or person) has been previously encountered.
      I've seen him before, but I can't quite place where.
    4. (transitive) To vouch for someone's alibi.
      The librarian was placed at home by her neighbor at the time of the murder.
    5. (transitive) To sing (a note) with the correct pitch.
      Synonym: reach
    6. (transitive, in collocations) To make.
      • 2021, Alexander S. Vindman, “Impeachable Offense”, in Here, Right Matters: An American Story‎[1], HarperCollins, →ISBN:
        We were all focused intently on the triangular conference call speaker in the middle of the table. President Trump's communications team was placing a call to President Volodymyr Zelenksy of Ukraine, and we were here to listen.
      to place a call
      to place an order
      to place an ad in the newspaper
      to place a bid
      to place a bet
      to place a wager
    7. (transitive) To bet.
      I placed ten dollars on the Lakers beating the Bulls.
    8. (transitive) To recruit or match an appropriate person for a job, or a home for an animal for adoption, etc.
      They phoned hoping to place her in the management team.
      • 1980, Tsunoda Jun, “The Navy's Role in the Southern Strategy”, in Robert A. Scalapino, transl., edited by James William Morley, The Fateful Choice: Japan's Advance into Southeast Asia, 1939-1941‎[2], New York: Columbia University Press, sourced from "Nihon no tai-Bei kaisen (1940-nen–1941-nen)," Taiheiyō sensō e no michi, vol. 7, part I, sec. 1, pp. 16–28 and sec. 2, pp. 44–53, 65–88, 109–18., translation of original in Japanese, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 287:
        Designated as the core of the southern forces were: the 5th Division, which was recalled from northern French Indochina to Shanghai, placed under the direct control of Imperial Headquarters, and, on October 12, ordered to “train primarily for landing operations” (Imperial Headquarters Army Order 467); the Imperial Guard Division, which was ordered on October 22 to assemble at Shant’ou (Swatow); the 48th Division, reorganized on October 22 from the Taiwan Mixed Brigade and ordered to advance to Hainan island; and the 18th Division at Canton.
    9. (sports, transitive) To place-kick (a goal).
    10. (transitive) To assign (more or less value) to something.
      My workplace places a high premium on team spirit.
      She places little value on religion.
    Conjugation
    Conjugation of place
    infinitive (to) place
    present tense past tense
    1st-person singular place placed
    2nd-person singular place, placest† placed, placedst†
    3rd-person singular places, placeth† placed
    plural place
    subjunctive place placed
    imperative place —
    participles placing placed, yplaced†

    † Archaic or obsolete.

    Synonyms
    Derived terms
    Translations
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    Anagrams

    Czech

    Alternative forms

    • placu (locative singular)

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): [ˈplat͡sɛ]
    • Rhymes: -atsɛ
    • Hyphenation: pla‧ce

    Noun

    place

    1. vocative/locative singular of plac

    Anagrams

    Franco-Provençal

    Alternative forms

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

    Inherited from Latin platea.

    Noun

    place f (plural places) (ORB, broad)

    1. plaza, public square
    2. place, location

    References

    • place in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
    • pllace in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

    Further information

    French

    Pronunciation

    Etymology 1

    Inherited from Old French place, from Latin platea, from Ancient Greek πλατεῖα (plateîa).

    Noun

    place f (plural places)

    1. place, square, plaza, piazza
    2. place, space, room
    3. place, seat
    Derived terms
    Descendants

    Etymology 2

    See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

    Verb

    place

    1. inflection of placer:
      1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
      2. second-person singular imperative

    Further reading

    Anagrams

    Interlingua

    Verb

    place

    1. present of placer
    2. imperative of placer

    Latin

    Verb

    placē

    1. second-person singular present active imperative of placeō

    Middle English

    Etymology 1

    From Old English plæċe and Old French place, both from Latin platea, from Ancient Greek πλατεῖα (plateîa).

    Alternative forms

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈplaːs(ə)/, /ˈplas(ə)/

    Noun

    place (plural places)

    1. A place, area or spot; a part of the Earth or universe:
      1. An inhabited place (such as a country, town etc.)
      2. A battlefield; a location of fighting.
      3. An estate or property; a house or building (often with its surrounds).
      4. (rare) A city square, market square, or courtyard.
    2. A location or position in or on a larger space (occupied by something or someone):
      1. An area of the body (either of an organ or of the skin)
      2. A location in or passage from a written document.
      3. (mathematics) The place of a digit in a number written with Arabic numerals.
    3. A place, station, or position; an appropriate or designated spot:
      1. The usual location or place of something (e.g. an animal's dwelling).
      2. A position in a hierarchy; rank, status, or level.
      3. A favourable or propitious occasion; an opportunity.
    4. Extent, space (in two or three dimensions)
    Descendants
    References

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    place

    1. alternative form of playce

    Old French

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

    From Latin platea.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈplat͡sə/, (later) /ˈplasə/

    Noun

    place oblique singular, f (oblique plural places, nominative singular place, nominative plural places)

    1. place; location

    Descendants

    References

    Polish

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈpla.t͡sɛ/
    • Audio:(file)
    • Rhymes: -at͡sɛ
    • Syllabification: pla‧ce

    Noun

    place m inan

    1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of plac

    Romanian

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): [ˈplat͡ʃe]

    Verb

    place

    1. inflection of plăcea:
      1. second-person singular imperative
      2. third-person singular present indicative
      Îți place de el? ― Do you like him?

    Spanish

    Pronunciation

    Verb

    place

    1. inflection of placer:
      1. third-person singular present indicative
      2. second-person singular imperative
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