TEMPLATE

noun Etymology: probably from French templet, diminutive of temple, part of a loom, probably from Latin templum Date: 1677 a short piece or block placed horizontally in a wall under a beam to distribute its weight or pressure (as over a door), 2. a. a gauge, pattern, or mold (as a thin plate or board) used as a guide to the form of a piece being made, a molecule (as of DNA) that serves as a pattern for the generation of another macromolecule (as messenger RNA), overlay c, something that establishes or serves as a pattern