‘盘子’ (pán zi) is a common noun meaning ‘plate’—a flat, round dish used for serving or eating food. The character 盘 (pán) originally meant ‘tray’ or ‘shallow container’, and the suffix 子 (zi) is a diminutive or nominalizing particle that turns the root into a concrete, countable object. Together, they refer specifically to tableware rather than larger trays or industrial containers.

This word is neutral in register and widely used in daily life—from family meals to restaurants and cooking shows. While ‘盘子’ can occasionally mean ‘tray’ in informal speech (e.g., a serving tray), its primary and most frequent meaning is ‘plate’. It’s often paired with measure words like 个 (gè) or 只 (zhī), and appears in idioms like ‘一盘菜’ (yì pán cài, ‘a dish of food’) or compound words like ‘餐盘’ (cān pán, ‘dinner plate’).