Dictionary

boilerplate en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈbɔɪ.ləˌpleɪt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio
• /ˈbɔɪ.ləɹˌpleɪt/ (General-American)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bew-der.? Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der.? Latin bulla Proto-Indo-European *-yétider. Latin -iō Latin bulliō Old French boillirbor. Middle English boillen English boil Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English boiler Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- Proto-Indo-European *-us Proto-Indo-European *pléth₂us Proto-Hellenic *plətús Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús)bor. Vulgar Latin *platta Old French platebor. Middle English plate English plate English boilerplate From boiler + plate.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Describing text or other material of a standard or routine nature.
   • The contract contained all the usual boilerplate clauses.
   • Devoid of even boilerplate language offering support for Israel and its defense, the statement made clear: this would be Israel’s conflict, not Trump’s. 2025 June 12, Kevin Liptak, “Trump didn’t want Israel to strike. They did it anyway.”, in CNN.com:
   • It’s an oldie, but not a goodie: one of those boilerplate kids’ movie plots about a workaholic adult who needs a serious jolt to their inner child, complete with a buck-passing, golf-playing idiot boss (Mark Gatiss) and a big presentation that’s due tomorrow. 2018 August 2, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, “Disney goes back to the Hundred Acre Wood in the wistful Christopher Robin”, in AV Club, archived from the original on 03 Aug 2018:
2. (not-comparable) Formulaic, stereotypical.
3. (not-comparable) Used to refer to a non-functional spacecraft used to test configuration and procedures.
   • A boilerplate spacecraft was used to test the rocket.

Forms

boilerplate en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈbɔɪ.ləˌpleɪt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio
• /ˈbɔɪ.ləɹˌpleɪt/ (General-American)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bew-der.? Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der.? Latin bulla Proto-Indo-European *-yétider. Latin -iō Latin bulliō Old French boillirbor. Middle English boillen English boil Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English boiler Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- Proto-Indo-European *-us Proto-Indo-European *pléth₂us Proto-Hellenic *plətús Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús)bor. Vulgar Latin *platta Old French platebor. Middle English plate English plate English boilerplate From boiler + plate.

Meanings

1. (countable, qualifier:literal, uncountable) A sheet of metal. ▸ A sheet of copper or steel used in the construction of a boiler.
   • For rolled steel structural plates and sections, the Carbon content may be increased to approximately 0.30%, with higher Manganese content up to 1.5%. These materials may be used for stampings, forgings, seamless tubes, and boilerplates. 2023, J. Y. Afrifa, E. A. Duodu, N. J. Amoanab, K. Dubik, C. Akasika, F. Dery, “Impact of Electric-Arc Welding on the Mechanical Properties of AISI 1055 Medium Carbon Steel with Varied Gauge Diameters”, in Africian Journal of Applied Research, volume 9, number 2, →ISSN, archived from the original on 12 Feb 2024, page 37:
   • That is, suppose we fix a piece of iron, a strip of boilerplate, for instance, ¼ of an inch thick and 4 inches wide, at a temperature of 92 degrees Fahr., between a pair of immovable clamps. 1885 April 4, Don Kretz, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks, Scientific American Supplement, number 483, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2026:
2. (broadly, qualifier:literal, uncountable) A sheet of metal. ▸ Any metal taking the form of sheets used in the construction of a boiler.
3. (countable, qualifier:literal, uncountable) A sheet of metal. ▸ A plate attached to industrial machinery, identifying information such as manufacturer, model number, serial number, and power requirements.
4. (UK, countable, qualifier:literal, uncountable) A sheet of metal. ▸ The rating plate or nameplate required to be affixed to a boiler by the Boiler Explosions Act (1882).
5. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) A template. ▸ Syndicated material; repeatable stories, articles or advertisements.
   • This rule prevented publishers from using various kinds of preset plate matter to fill their pages while avoiding composition costs. In the 1880s, numerous agencies sprang up to provide precisely these services to newspapers in the form of so-called boilerplate. (Can we date this quote?), (Please provide the book title or journal name), page 220:
   • […] they have neither the responsibility nor the inclination to cover the real news of the community and consequently have little editorial expense, relying on handouts and cheap boilerplate materials to fill up the spots where they have no ads. 1966, Editor & Publisher, volume 99, page 46:
6. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) A template. ▸ A copy for the purpose of making other copies.
7. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) A template. ▸ Standard text of a legal or official nature added to documents or labels.
   • Form contracts often contain a lot of boilerplate—sometimes as many as 50-100 boilerplate terms, which run on for many pages. 2018, Melvin A. Eisenberg, Foundational Principles of Contract Law (The Oxford Commentaries on American Law), New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 522:
   • They put that boilerplate on all the warning labels.
   • This type of clause has proved so valuable that it is presently standard “boilerplate,” not only in shipbuilding contracts, but also in almost every government contract. 1959, Navy Contract Law, 2nd edition, Washington D.C.: Office of the General Counsel, Department of the Navy, pages 532-533:
8. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) A template. ▸ A basic contract that can be modified to make different kinds of contracts.
9. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) A template. ▸ A standard piece of program code used routinely and added with a text editor or word processor.
   • Creating a site is easy and, a little like Net Objects Fusion, you can use styles and templates to set up the basic layout, complete with buttons and links automatically. Shared blocks of boilerplate make it easy to add such things as email addresses or navigation footers to each page, and there's a good range of script items you can add to your pages. 2005 March, Nigel Whitfield, “SJ Namo Web Editor 6 Suite”, in Personal Computer World, page 81:
10. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) A template. ▸ Formulaic or hackneyed language.
11. (uncountable) Tightly packed snow with a hard, icy crust on its surface, which may be dangerous for skiing.

Forms

Synonyms

boilerplate code · template

Translations (37)

de Standardklausel (standard text used routinely) · ru шаблон (standard text used routinely) · ru болванка (standard text used routinely) · pl gotowiec (standard text used routinely) · fi vakioteksti (standard text used routinely) · de Harsch (skiing: icy snow) · es plancha (sheet of steel used in the construction of a boiler) · de Kennzeichnung (rating plate on machinery) · hu típustábla (rating plate on machinery) · nb kokeplate (sheet of steel used in the construction of a boiler) · de Standardformulierung (standard text used routinely) · de Stehsatz (standard text used routinely) · tr kazan saçı (sheet of steel used in the construction of a boiler) · tr standart metin (standard text used routinely) · hu géptábla (rating plate on machinery) · de Kesselblech (sheet of steel used in the construction of a boiler) · cs textová šablona (standard text used routinely) · pl szablon (standard text used routinely) · hu gyári tábla (rating plate on machinery) · hu kazánlemez (sheet of steel used in the construction of a boiler) · de Geräteschild (rating plate on machinery) · hu adattábla (rating plate on machinery) · de Leistungsschild (rating plate on machinery) · nn kokeplate (sheet of steel used in the construction of a boiler) · de Schneeeis (skiing: icy snow) · de Kesselplatte (sheet of steel used in the construction of a boiler) · sh špranca (standard text used routinely) · fi arvokilpi (rating plate on machinery) · fr texte standard (standard text used routinely) · de Abbinder (standard text used routinely) · mk котларски лим (sheet of steel used in the construction of a boiler) · cs kotlářský plech (sheet of steel used in the construction of a boiler) · de Textbaustein (standard text used routinely) · fi jäinen lumi (skiing: icy snow) · de Typenschild (rating plate on machinery) · cs typový štítek (rating plate on machinery) · fi kattilalevy (sheet of steel used in the construction of a boiler)

boilerplate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈbɔɪ.ləˌpleɪt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio
• /ˈbɔɪ.ləɹˌpleɪt/ (General-American)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bew-der.? Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der.? Latin bulla Proto-Indo-European *-yétider. Latin -iō Latin bulliō Old French boillirbor. Middle English boillen English boil Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English boiler Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- Proto-Indo-European *-us Proto-Indo-European *pléth₂us Proto-Hellenic *plətús Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús)bor. Vulgar Latin *platta Old French platebor. Middle English plate English plate English boilerplate From boiler + plate.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To store standard text so that it can easily be retrieved for reuse.
   • Any text that you have reason to use more than once can be boilerplated by simply tucking it away in a file (on disk) […] 1986, Personal Computing, volume 10, page 72:
   • Boilerplated sections should be examined for updating each time they are used. 1989, Ron Tepper, How to Write Winning Proposals for Your Company Or Client, page 236:

Forms

Relateds

pro forma · canned response · template · hotplate · boiling plate