template

Etymology

Alteration of templet, probably from French templet, diminutive of temple (“a weaver's stretcher”), variant of tempe, from Latin tempora (“temple”). Alteration of second syllable due to analogy with plate. Cognate with Faroese tamba (“to stretch out, relax”), Icelandic þamb (“a stretched, bloated, or extended belly”).

noun

1. A physical object whose shape is used as a guide to make other objects.
2. A generic model or pattern from which other objects are based or derived.
   1. (computing) document template (file with a basic outline for a work)
3. (molecular biology) A macromolecule which provides a pattern for the synthesis of another molecule.
   Classically, the functional product of coding genes is a protein whose synthesis is directed by an mRNA-template. 2002, S. Lottin et al., “Thioredoxin post-transcriptional regulation by H19 provides a new function to mRNA-like non-coding RNA”, in Nature, volume 21, number 10
4. (object-oriented programming) A partially defined class or function, that can be instantiated in a variety of ways depending on the instantiation arguments.
   A template is a blueprint or formula for creating a generic class or a function. “C++ Templates”, in tutorialspoint, 2016
5. A strip of metal used in boiler-making, pierced with a series of holes, and serving as a guide in marking out a line of rivet-holes.

verb

1. To set up or mark off using a template.
   Only that part of the floor timber that bears on the planking and keel need be templated; […] 1994, Howard I. Chapelle, Boatbuilding, page 368
2. To provide a template or pattern for.
   Metal phosphates that are templated by transition-metal complexes are rare. 2003, Yu Wang et al., “Synthesis and characterization of a new layered gallium phosphate templated by cobalt complex”, in Journal of Solid State Chemistry, volume 170, number 1, →DOI
3. (molecular biology, transitive) To synthesize by means of a template.