plancher
English
Etymology
Borrowed from French plancher.
Noun
plancher (plural planchers)
- A floor made of wood.
- A plank.
- 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
- Elm; [used] some for planchers
- (architecture) The underside of a cornice; a soffit.
Verb
plancher (third-person singular simple present planchers, present participle planchering, simple past and past participle planchered)
- (obsolete, transitive) To form using planks.
- 1586, Conrad Heresbach, Foure Bookes of Husbandrie:
- your stable be well paved with rounde stone, wel planchered and kept clean
References
- “plancher”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “plancher”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /plɑ̃.ʃe/
Audio: (file) Audio (France (Vosges)): (file) Audio (France (Vosges)): (file) Audio (France (Vosges)): (file) Audio (France (Somain)): (file)
Etymology 1
Noun
plancher m (plural planchers)
- (archaic) plancher (floor made of wood)
- floor (the interior bottom or surface of a house or building; the supporting surface of a room)
- Coordinate term: plafond
- débarrasser le plancher ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
- plancher des vaches ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
- (by extension, geology, biology, anatomy) floor (the bottom surface of a natural structure, entity, or space)
- plancher océanique ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
- plancher pelvien ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
- lower limit
- un prix plancher ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
Derived terms
Etymology 2
From planche + -er. Compare bûcher.
Verb
plancher
- (intransitive) to study something thoroughly, to work hard on something, to brainstorm
- J'ai planché sur le sujet.
- I have made extensive research on the topic.
- 2025 June 9, François Tonneau, ““Mettre fin à la pêche illégale” : l'alerte des scientifiques”, in La Provence, →ISSN:
- […] une centaine de scientifiques ont donc planché toute la semaine, préparant leurs recommandations, avant de les restituer ce dimanche à Emmanuel Macron et un aréopage de personnalités.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Conjugation
Conjugation of plancher (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | plancher | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | planchant /plɑ̃.ʃɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | planché /plɑ̃.ʃe/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | planche /plɑ̃ʃ/ |
planches /plɑ̃ʃ/ |
planche /plɑ̃ʃ/ |
planchons /plɑ̃.ʃɔ̃/ |
planchez /plɑ̃.ʃe/ |
planchent /plɑ̃ʃ/ |
| imperfect | planchais /plɑ̃.ʃɛ/ |
planchais /plɑ̃.ʃɛ/ |
planchait /plɑ̃.ʃɛ/ |
planchions /plɑ̃.ʃjɔ̃/ |
planchiez /plɑ̃.ʃje/ |
planchaient /plɑ̃.ʃɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | planchai /plɑ̃.ʃe/ |
planchas /plɑ̃.ʃa/ |
plancha /plɑ̃.ʃa/ |
planchâmes /plɑ̃.ʃam/ |
planchâtes /plɑ̃.ʃat/ |
planchèrent /plɑ̃.ʃɛʁ/ | |
| future | plancherai /plɑ̃ʃ.ʁe/ |
plancheras /plɑ̃ʃ.ʁa/ |
planchera /plɑ̃ʃ.ʁa/ |
plancherons /plɑ̃ʃ.ʁɔ̃/ |
plancherez /plɑ̃ʃ.ʁe/ |
plancheront /plɑ̃ʃ.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | plancherais /plɑ̃ʃ.ʁɛ/ |
plancherais /plɑ̃ʃ.ʁɛ/ |
plancherait /plɑ̃ʃ.ʁɛ/ |
plancherions /plɑ̃.ʃə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
plancheriez /plɑ̃.ʃə.ʁje/ |
plancheraient /plɑ̃ʃ.ʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | planche /plɑ̃ʃ/ |
planches /plɑ̃ʃ/ |
planche /plɑ̃ʃ/ |
planchions /plɑ̃.ʃjɔ̃/ |
planchiez /plɑ̃.ʃje/ |
planchent /plɑ̃ʃ/ |
| imperfect2 | planchasse /plɑ̃.ʃas/ |
planchasses /plɑ̃.ʃas/ |
planchât /plɑ̃.ʃa/ |
planchassions /plɑ̃.ʃa.sjɔ̃/ |
planchassiez /plɑ̃.ʃa.sje/ |
planchassent /plɑ̃.ʃas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | planche /plɑ̃ʃ/ |
— | planchons /plɑ̃.ʃɔ̃/ |
planchez /plɑ̃.ʃe/ |
— | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Further reading
- “plancher”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012