is a term used for text, document layout, computer code, or language that is used as a standard and included in its application with little or few alterations or changes.
The term originated as a manufacturer’s label placed on steam boilers and since then has been used in various situations and trades:
Computer Code: Software programmers use this term to describe scripts or code strings for standard functions in their computer programs, and most recently for tablet and smartphone apps.
Printing houses: Beginning in the early 1900s, boiler plates were called printing plates and were the physical steel print plates engraved with text advertisements or syndicated columns. These plates were distributed by a central supplier to newspapers and magazines. The largest supplier of these plates was the Western Newspaper Union through the later part of the Twentieth Century. The press release could now be considered as a boilerplate in the digital world.
Another connotation of this term is used as a company profile or short description found at the end of a press release.
Other uses for this term are for form letters, online petitions, and legal contracts.