Definition
Standardized text or language that is used repeatedly with little or no change, especially in legal documents, contracts, or computer code; or literally, steel sheets used to make boiler drums.
Etymology
Compound of 'boiler' and 'plate' (from Old French 'plate'). The figurative meaning emerged around 1900 when newspapers literally reused pre-made metal plates for standard advertisements and notices. The metaphor moved into legal and tech language.
Kelly Says
Newspaper printers invented this term—they'd cast advertisers' text in metal once, then mail the solid metal plate ('boilerplate') to papers nationwide so they could reuse it endlessly without resetting type, making it the original form of content recycling.
Translations
ARالعربية
نص نموذجي
naṣ naḏāji
CACatalà
plantilla
plan-ti-lla
CSČeština
šablona
šab-lo-na
DADansk
maltekst
mal-tekst
DEDeutsch
Schablone
sha-blo-neh
ELΕλληνικά
προτύπο
pro-tipo
ESEspañol
texto genérico
tekstoh hen-eh-ri-koh
FRFrançais
texte générique
tekst zhen-eh-rik
HIहिन्दी
नमूना पाठ
na-moo-na paath
IDBahasa Indonesia
platypus
plat-ypus
ITItaliano
testo di modello
tekst-o di mod-e-lo
JA日本語
テンプレート
te-n-pur-ee-to
MSBahasa Melayu
platypus
plat-ypus
NLNederlands
sjabloon
sja-bloon
NONorsk
maltekst
mal-tekst
PLPolski
szablon
sza-blon
PTPortuguês
texto genérico
tekstoh zhen-eh-ri-koh
RUРусский
шаблон
sha-blon
SVSvenska
malltext
mall-tekst
SWKiswahili
platypus
plat-ypus
TAதமிழ்
மாதிரி
ma-a-d-iri
THไทย
แบบจำลอง
baep cham-long
TRTürkçe
kalıp metin
kalıp metin
UKУкраїнська
шаблон
sha-blon
VITiếng Việt
mẫu văn bản
mau van ban