plage
UK[plɑːʒ]US[plɑːʒ]
n
A sandy or pebbly area along the shore of a sea or lake; a beach, especially at a resort.
n
(Astronomy) A bright, calcium-rich region in the sun's chromosphere.
Etymology
The word 'plage' entered English in the late 15th century, borrowed directly from the French word 'plage', meaning 'shore' or 'beach'. The French term itself derives from the Old Provençal 'plaja', which traces back to the Late Latin 'plagia', meaning 'shore'. This Latin form is believed to be a borrowing from the Greek 'plagia', a noun use of the adjective 'plagios' meaning 'sideways' or 'oblique', likely in reference to the sloping nature of a beach. The astronomical sense, coined in the early 20th century, draws a metaphorical comparison between the bright, irregular patches on the sun and the distinct, illuminated stretches of a seaside beach.
Analysis
The word is a direct loan from French. It is not productively segmented into smaller, meaningful morphemes in English.
Examples
We spent the afternoon lounging on the sunny plage of the French Riviera.
The resort's main attraction is its pristine, white-sand plage.
Solar astronomers observed a series of active plages associated with the sunspot group.