Standard Lemma guide

platelet

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈpleɪt.lət/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: P L EY1 T L AH0 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A small colorless disk-shaped particle found in the blood of mammals, which plays an important role in the formation of blood clots.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, cytology, hematology, medicine, natural-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: blood platelet, thrombocyte

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

tiny bits of protoplasm found in vertebrate blood; essential for blood clotting

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: blood platelet, thrombocyte

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: protoplasm, living substance

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pleth2- Proto-Indo-European *-us Proto-Indo-European *pléth2us Proto-Hellenic *plətús Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús)bor. Vulgar Latin *platta Old French platebor. Middle English plate English plate Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -lus Latin -ellus Old French -el Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tosder.? Late Latin -ittus Old French -et Old French -eletbor. Middle English -let English -let English platelet From plate + -let.

Across languages

Translations

54 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: bloedplaatjie — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Aragonese: plaqueta — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Armenian: թրոմբոցիտ (tʻrombocʻit) — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Armenian: արյան թիթեղիկ (aryan tʻitʻeġik) — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Basque: plaketa — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Central Bikol: kagan — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Catalan: plaqueta — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Catalan: trombòcit — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Chinese Mandarin: 血小板 (xuèxiǎobǎn) — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Czech: krevní destička — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Danish: blodplade — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Dutch: bloedplaatje — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Dutch: trombocyt — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Finnish: verihiutale — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • French: thrombocyte — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • French: plaquette — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Galician: plaqueta — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • German: Thrombozyt — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • German: Blutplättchen — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Greek: αιμοπετάλιο (aimopetálio) — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Hebrew: טסית (tasít) — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Hindi: बिंबाणु (bimbāṇu) — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Hungarian: vérlemezke — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Hungarian: trombocita — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Icelandic: blóðflaga — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Indonesian: platelet — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Irish: pláitín — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Irish: pláitín fola — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Italian: piastrina — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Italian: trombocito — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Japanese: 血小板 (kesshōban) — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Kannada: ಕಿರುಬಿಲ್ಲೆ (kirubille) — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Korean: 혈소판 (hyeolsopan) — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Northern Kurdish: perika xwînê — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Latin: thrombocytus — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Macedonian: крвните плочки (krvnite pločki) — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Polish: płytka krwi — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Polish: trombocyt — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Portuguese: plaqueta — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Quechua: yawar llukllunacha — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Romanian: trombocit — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Romanian: plachetă sangvină — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Russian: тромбоци́т (trombocít) — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Spanish: plaqueta — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Spanish: trombocito — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Swedish: blodplätt — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Swedish: trombocyt — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Tagalog: muntilipay — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Thai: เกล็ดเลือด (glèt-lʉ̂ʉat) — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Thai: แผ่นเลือด — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Turkish: trombosit — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Turkish: kan pulcuğu — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Ukrainian: тромбоци́т (trombocýt) — particle found in the blood of mammals
  • Vietnamese: tiểu cầu — particle found in the blood of mammals