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Glite Dictionary
🍽️ Silver-coated tableware 🪙 A silver layer
silver plate

silver plate

4.3
A thin layer of silver that covers another material to decorate or protect it
  • noun
  • /ˈsɪlvər pleɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : plato de plata
  • The chef served the dessert on an elegant silver plate to impress the guests.

Examples

  • "They were in a long hall, feasting at a table laid with silk and linen, with crystal goblets and silver plate."

    Fiction book (1993)

  • She polished the antique silver plate until it gleamed in the light.

  • "He looked at her when he said this, and she laughed and shrugged it off because what she was really thinking about was whether to register silver plate as well as sterling and stainless.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • At the wedding, the cake was presented on a stunning silver plate adorned with flowers.

Synonyms

plating
vssilver plate
  • Specialized
15 5.9

A thin layer of metal that covers an object to protect it or make it look better

names the resulting thin shiny element layer rather than the covering process
metal plating
vssilver plate
  • Specialized
3.9

A thin metal layer on a surface for protection or decoration

uses a thin layer made from one shiny element rather than any general layer

How Thick

silver plate
  • Specialized
4.3
foil
94 2.8

Surface Forms

silver plate singular
silver plates plural

Morphology

silver + plate

The meaning 'a plate made of or coated with silver' is directly and compositionally derived from 'silver' (the metal) + 'plate' (a flat dining dish). This simple noun–noun combination follows transparent referential naming common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Silver plate comes from the craft of putting a thin layer of silver on another object and calling that layer a plate. Craftspeople did this to make items look nicer or to protect them, so today silver plate means 'a thin layer of silver' on something else.