planchette

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French planchette.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /plænˈʃɛt/
• Rhymes: -ɛt

Noun

planchette (plural planchettes)

1. A small plank.
2. (spiritualism) A type of Ouija board. (A small tablet of wood supported on casters and having a pencil attached. The characters produced by the pencil on paper, while the hand rests on the instrument and it is allowed to move, are sometimes interpreted as of oracular or supernatural import.)
3. A plane table.
4. (chiefly Canada) One of the round colored dots pressed into paper money, used to distinguish authentic currency from counterfeit currency.
   • 2009 November 26, “Warning issued about fake cash”, in CBCNews, Canada:

     Some general security features to look for in both Canadian and American currency are . . .small green dots or "planchettes" randomly embedded throughout the paper that glow under ultraviolet light.

See also

• Ouija

French

Etymology

From planche +‎ -ette.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /plɑ̃.ʃɛt/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

planchette f (plural planchettes)

1. small plank

Derived terms

• planchette à pince

Descendants

• → Ottoman Turkish: پلانچته (plançete)
  • Turkish: plançete
• → Romanian: planșetă
• → Russian: планшет (planšet)

Further reading

• “planchette”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.