'growth plate' is a modern English compound formed from 'growth' + 'plate', where 'growth' comes from Old English related to 'grow' (to increase in size) and 'plate' comes from Old French 'plate' meaning 'flat piece'.

'growth plate' developed as a common-language term in modern medical English to describe the same structure earlier referred to more technically as the 'epiphyseal plate' (from Greek elements 'epi-' + 'physis').

Initially, 'plate' primarily meant a flat piece or layer; as a compound with 'growth', the term evolved to mean 'the layer (of cartilage) where growth occurs' and specifically denotes the epiphyseal cartilage in bones.