platen

[ plat-n ]

/ ˈplæt n /

noun

a flat plate in a printing press for pressing the paper against the inked type or plate to produce an impression.

a rotating cylinder used for the same purpose.

the roller of a typewriter.

(on a planing machine or the like) the bed to which the work is fastened.

(on a testing machine) a plate for applying compression to a sample.

Nearby words

platelet-derived growth factor, plateletpheresis, platelets, platemaker, platemark, platen, plater, plateresque, plateware, platform, platform bed

Origin of platen

1400–50; earlier platyne, late Middle English plateyne chalice cover < Middle French platine. See plate¹, -ine¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for platen

Platen's Ghaselen have neither the merit nor the reputation of his sonnets or his ballads.
The Influence of India and Persia on the Poetry of Germany|Arthur F. J. Remy
But getting squared away with a fresh sheet over the platen isn't the whole of it.
The Fiction Factory|John Milton Edwards
But there is work, such as the minding of platen machines which men do in London but which women do in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
Women in the Printing Trades.|Various
Eventually, he was able to simply snitch it out of the platen of the humming Selectric and walk out.
Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town|Cory Doctorow

There was also a Columbian press for pulling posters and a platen machine for small work.
Cleo The Magnificent|Louis Zangwill

British Dictionary definitions for platen

platen

/ (ˈplætən) /

noun

a flat plate in a printing press that presses the paper against the type

the roller on a typewriter, against which the keys strike

the worktable of a machine tool, esp one that is slotted to enable T-bolts to be used

Word Origin for platen

C15: from Old French platine, from plat flat; see plate

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for platen

platen

1540s, from Middle French plateine, from Old French platine "flat piece, metal plate" (13c.), perhaps altered (by influence of plat "flat") from patene, from Latin patena "pan."