trencher

/ˈtrɛntʃər/

Other forms: trenchers

A trencher is an old-fashioned wooden plate for serving or eating food. It was most common to use a trencher in Medieval Europe.

The original trencher was a piece of bread that other food would be served on and eaten from. With this type of trencher, a diner could either eat her plate or donate it to someone who was poor and hungry. Later, trenchers evolved into small wooden or metal plates. The original, 1300s meaning of trencher was "wooden platter for cutting meat," from the Old North French trencheor, "a cutting place," with its Old French root of trenchier, "to cut."

Definitions of trencher

1. noun

   a wooden board or platter on which food is served or carved
   type of:

   board

   a flat piece of material designed for a special purpose
2. noun

   someone who digs trenches
   type of:

   digger

   a laborer who digs