Look up template in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Template may mean:

• a stencil, pattern or overlay used in graphic arts (drawing, painting, etc.) and sewing to replicate letters, shapes or designs
• a pre-developed page layout in electronic or paper media used to make new pages with a similar design, pattern, or style
• Form letter, a predefined letter which retains its primary intent when individually customised with variable data or text.

Computer science and information technology[link]

• Template (file format), a standardized non-executable file type used by computer software as a pre-formatted example on which to base other files, especially documents
• Template (C++), a tool for generic programming especially in the C++ language
• Template metaprogramming, a programming technique used by a compiler to generate temporary source code
• Template method, an object-oriented design pattern
• Template processor, a system that combines a template with data to produce an output.
• Template (word processing), a standard document containing layout and styles used to configure word processing software
• Style sheet (web development) or master page on which you can globally edit and format graphic elements and text common to each page of a document
• Web template or web template system, a master page used to produce web pages
• A main document from which mail merge documents are created

Manufacturing[link]

• Mechanical template, used to cut and shape a product, such as:
  • a die (manufacturing)
  • a mold

Molecular genetics[link]

• a strand of DNA which sets the genetic sequence of new strands
• a strand of RNA which translates genes into proteins

Miscellaneous[link]

• Template (racing), a device used in car racing to ensure that the body of the race vehicle adheres to specifications

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007)

A youth hostel room in Japan

A room is any distinguishable space within a structure. Usually, a room is separated from other spaces or passageways by interior walls; moreover, it is separated from outdoor areas by an exterior wall, sometimes with a door. Historically the use of rooms dates at least to early Minoan cultures about 2200 BC, where excavations on Santorini, Greece at Akrotiri reveal clearly defined rooms within certain structures.^[1]

Historical room types[link]

A living room

In early structures, diverse room types could be identified to include bedrooms, kitchens, bathing rooms, reception rooms, and other specialized uses. The aforementioned Akrotiri excavations reveal rooms sometimes built above other rooms connected by staircases, bathrooms with alabaster appliances such as washbasins, bathing tubs, and toilets, all connected to an elaborate twin plumbing systems of ceramic pipes for cold and hot water separately.^[1] Ancient Rome manifested very complex building forms with a variety of room types, including some of the earliest examples of rooms for indoor bathing. The Anasazi civilization also had an early complex development of room structures, probably the oldest in North America, while the Maya of Central America had very advanced room configurations as early as several hundred AD. By at least the early Han Dynasty in China (e.g. approximately 200 BC), complex multi-level building forms emerged, particularly for religious and public purposes; these designs featured many roomed structures and included vertical connections of rooms.

Box-room[link]

A hospital room

Many houses are built to contain a box-room (box room or boxroom) that is easily identifiable, being smaller than the others. The small size of these rooms limits their use, and they tend to be used as a small single bedroom, small child's bedroom, or as a storage room. Other box rooms may house a live-in domestic worker.

Traditionally, and often seen in country houses and larger suburban houses up until the 1930s in Britain, the box room was literally for the storage of boxes, trunks, portmanteaux, and the like, rather than for bedroom use.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• Entryway
• Great hall
• Room number

Notes[link]