# plank
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English plank, planke, borrowed from Old French planke, Old Northern French planque (compare French planche, from Old French planche), from Vulgar Latin planca, from palanca, from Latin phalanga. The Latin term derives from the Ancient Greek φάλαγξ (phálanx), so it is thus a doublet of phalange and phalanx. Compare also the doublets planch and planche, and plancha, borrowed later from Middle French, Modern French, and Spanish, respectively.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /plæŋk/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -æŋk
* Homophone: Planck

### Noun

plank (plural planks)
* A long, broad and thick piece of timber, as opposed to a board which is less thick.
* (figurative) A political issue that is of concern to a faction or a party of the people and the political position that is taken on that issue.
    Holonym: platform
    Germanization was a central plank of German conservative thinking in the 19th and 20th centuries.
** 1996 August 24, Frank Bruni, “Dole Rejects a Party Plank”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:When Mr. Dole had been asked at the Republican convention about the same immigration amendment—one of the more conservative and sensitive planks—he did not oppose it, but said he would have to think long and hard before supporting it.
** 2011, Guy Standing, chapter 1, in The Precariat‎, Bloomsbury Publishing, published 2016, →ISBN:In the 1970s, a group of ideologically inspired economists captured the ears and minds of politicians. The central plank of their ‘neo-liberal’ model was that growth and development depended on market competitiveness; […]
** 2025 February 24, Rina Goldenberg, “A guide to Germany's political parties”, in Deutsche Welle‎:The party, whose official name (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) translates as Alliance '90/The Greens, grew out of an assortment of social protest movements of the 1980s that eventually unified. Their supporters marched for everything from ending nuclear power to enacting gay rights — while maintaining the key plank of environmental protection.
* Physical exercise in which one holds a pushup position for a measured length of time.
* (British, slang) A stupid person, idiot.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:idiot
* That which supports or upholds.
** 1829, Robert Southey, Sir Thomas More; or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society:His charity is a better plank than the faith of an intolerant and bitter-minded bigot.

#### Derived terms

* Copenhagen plank
* gang plank
* gang-plank
* hub plank
* plank bed
* plank down
* plank road
* plank root
* plank-sheer
* plank spanker
* plank up
* side plank
* spike plank
* stage plank
* stop plank
* thick as a plank
* toe the plank
* two-forty on a plank road
* walk the plank

#### Descendants

* Tok Pisin: plangk

#### Translations
### Verb

plank (third-person singular simple present planks, present participle planking, simple past and past participle planked)
* (transitive) To cover something with planking.
    to plank a floor or a ship
** 1697, Virgil, “The Second Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:Plank'd with pine.
* (transitive) To bake (fish, etc.) on a piece of cedar lumber.
** 1998, Richard Gerstell, American Shad in the Susquehanna River Basin, page 147:Along the lower river, planked shad dinners (baked and broiled) were highly popular during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
* (transitive, colloquial) To lay down, as on a plank or table; to stake or pay cash.
    to plank money in a wager
** 1963, George Blaikie, Scandals of Australia's Strange Past, Adelaide: Rigby Limited, page 117:Joe planked the money down in the officer of a newspaper editor and awaited results. There weren't any.
* (transitive) To harden, as hat bodies, by felting.
* To splice together the ends of slivers of wool, for subsequent drawing.
* (intransitive) To pose for a photograph while lying rigid, face down, arms at side, in an unusual place.
** 2011 May 23, “Party finishes up in plonking after attempt at planking in Kingsford”, in Herald Sun‎:The woman, known as Claudia, fell from a 2m wall after earlier demonstrating the wrong way to plank on a small stool while holding a bottle of wine. A friend said some guests had not heard of planking and Claudia was demonstrating how ridiculous it was.
** 2011 May 24, “Tourists snapped planking at iconic landmarks around the world”, in The Australian‎:Perth man Simon Carville became an internet sensation after he was photographed planking naked in the arms of famous Perth statue the Eliza.

#### Translations
## Afrikaans
### Etymology

From Dutch plank, from Middle Dutch planke, from Old Dutch [Term?], from Old Northern French planke, from Late Latin planca.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /plaŋk/

### Noun

plank (plural planke, diminutive plankie)
* A plank.

#### Derived terms

* branderplank

## Dutch
### Etymology

From Middle Dutch planke, from Old Dutch *planka, from Old Northern French planke, from Late Latin planca.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /plɑŋk/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: plank
* Rhymes: -ɑŋk

### Noun

plank f (plural planken, diminutive plankje n)
* shelf
* (wooden or plastic) plank

#### Derived terms

* boekenplank
* duikplank
* hoedenplank
* loopplank
* op de planken
* plankenkoorts
* plankgas
* springplank
* surfplank
* van de bovenste plank
* zeilplank

#### Descendants

* Afrikaans: plank
* Berbice Creole Dutch: plangga
* Negerhollands: plank, plaṅ
* → Akawaio: paranga, paranka (via Skepi Creole Dutch)
* → Papiamentu: planki
* → Pemon: paranga, paranka (via Skepi Creole Dutch)
* → Sranan Tongo: planga
** → Caribbean Hindustani: palangá
** → Caribbean Javanese: plang, plangah
** → Dutch: planga
** → Kari'na: paranga, palanka
** → Lokono: planka

## Italian
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English plank.

### Noun

plank m (invariable)
* (neologism) plank (physical exercise)

## Swedish
### Etymology

From Middle Low German planke, from Latin planca.

### Noun

plank n
* a high wooden fence which completely prevents any seeing-through
* planks (collectively)
    såga stockar till plank och brädorsaw logs into planks and boards

#### Derived terms

* bullerplank

#### See also

* palissad
* planka
* staket
* stängsel

### References

* plank in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* plank in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* plank in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)