Planches

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Lumber, typically in the form of long, flat boards used in construction or manufacturing
2. A type of wooden board or plank that is often used as a surface for various purposes
3. A broad, flat piece of timber cut from a log, commonly utilized in building projects or furniture making

Etymology: "Planches" is simply the plural of "planche," a noun borrowed directly from French, where it also means "board." The French word traces back to Latin "planca," a slab or plank, which in turn gave English "plank" by a separate route, so the two are doublets: sister words that entered the language at different times by different paths. That shared ancestry is what makes the pair interesting. "Plank" came into English as a native-style term for a thick board, while "planche" arrived later from French, keeping the more recent French form and retaining the sense of a broad, flat piece of timber. The same Latin root also produced "planch" and "plancha," so the family stretches across several languages, all describing something flat and thin.