Word of the Day

: April 22, 2009

boilerplate

noun BOY-ler-playt

What It Means

1 : syndicated material supplied especially to weekly newspapers in matrix or plate form

2 a : standardized text

b : formulaic or hackneyed language

3 : tightly packed icy snow

boilerplate in Context

Most of the real estate contract was legal boilerplate.

Did You Know?

In the days before computers, small, local newspapers around the U.S. relied heavily on feature stories, editorials, and other printed material supplied by large publishing syndicates. The syndicates delivered that copy on metal plates with the type already in place so the local papers wouldn't have to set it. Printers apparently dubbed those syndicated plates "boiler plates" because of their resemblance to the plating used in making steam boilers. Soon "boilerplate" came to refer to the printed material on the plates as well as to the plates themselves. Because boilerplate stories were more often filler than hard news, the word acquired negative connotations and gained another sense widely used today: "hackneyed or unoriginal writing."