Etymograph

English

plank

Plank comes from Vulgar Latin planca ‘slat, plank’, and goes back to Ancient Greek φᾰ́λᾰγξ ‘line of battle, battle-array’.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφᾰ́λᾰγξ1as φᾰ́λᾰγγᾰ‘line of battle, battle-array’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphalanga2
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEpalanca2‘slat, plank or stake’
  4. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEplanca2‘slat, plank’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400planke2
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500plank2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1697plank2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin phalanga
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English plank
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1697, Virgil, The Second Book of the Æneis: “Plank'd with pine.”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφᾰ́λᾰγξWiktionary, Latin phalangaas φᾰ́λᾰγγᾰ‘line of battle, battle-array’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphalangaWiktionary, English plank
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEpalancaWiktionary, English plank‘slat, plank or stake’
  4. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEplancaWiktionary, English plank‘slat, plank’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400plankeWiktionary, English plank
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500plankWiktionary, English plank
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1697plankWiktionary, English plank. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1697, Virgil, The Second Book of the Æneis: “Plank'd with pine.”

The story

The Latin term derives from the Ancient Greek φάλαγξ (phálanx), so it is thus a doublet of phalange and phalanx.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵ- ‘beam, plank’

block, bulk, balcony, fulcrum, balk, 15 more

through Ancient Greek φᾰ́λᾰγξ ‘line of battle, battle-array’

phalanx, phalanges, 3 more

Today it means

noun A flat piece of wood on which to cook fish, so that the wood provides flavor and helps to produce a pleasing texture.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “plank”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin phalanga. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek φᾰ́λᾰγξ / plank

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