A trencher is an old kind of plate. Long ago in Europe, before people had cheap pottery or metal plates, food was served on a flat, square-ish piece of wood — or, even earlier, on a thick slice of hard, stale bread. That piece of wood or bread is the trencher. You put your meat and your sauce on it and ate from it. The bread kind soaked up the juices, and at the end of the meal it was either eaten, or given to the poor, or given to the dogs. This is why the word feels old: it belongs with castles, big wooden halls, and long tables. Nobody today says 'pass me a trencher' about a normal dinner plate. You meet the word in three places: in history books and museum labels; in stories set in the past, or fantasy stories that borrow that world; and inside the phrase 'a good trencherman', an old, slightly joking way to say someone who eats a lot and enjoys it. Some restaurants now serve food on a wooden board and call it a trencher on the menu, borrowing the old feeling on purpose. One more thing worth saying: the same word was also used for a flat wooden board for chopping and carving — the cutting board and the eating plate were often the same object, which is exactly where the name comes from.

木製或麵包做的古式餐盤（中世紀那種切一塊厚木板或硬麵包當盤子用）；也指切菜板