TRANSLATION OF THE TERM "BOILERPLATE"

According to Margaret Marks, the Lister/Veth Taschenwoerterbuch Recht (2002) defines "boilerplate" as follows:

boilerplate s. (US) Vordruck; Standardvertrag

[Note that the older 1998 PONS Fachwoerterbuch Recht has virtually the same definition:
boilerplate noun (US)
standard from of agreement or contract (with blank spaces to be filled in) Vordruck; Standardvertrag]

In our Langenscheidt dictionary cited above we define "boilerplate" as follows:
boilerplate contracts Standardtext m, Standardklausel f.
Indeed, in its principal legal usage, a German "Standardklausel" is called "boilerplate" in English.

Indeed, the definitive English law dictionary, Black's Law Dictionary, defines "boilerplate" as: "Language which is used commonly in documents having a definite meaning in the same context without variation; used to describe standard language in a legal document that is identical in instruments of a like nature."

Hence, although the Lister/Veth and PONS German renditions of "boilerplate" are not absolutely "wrong" they are not completely "right" either. Boilerplate applies to particular standard texts, and in contracts, is particularly applied to standard clauses - which are often required by law to be found in a contract (an indemnity clause would be a good example). Phrases such as "boilerplate contract" or "boilerplate agreement" are sometimes admittedly also used, with the adjective "boilerplate" meaning that the contract or agreement is composed of standard clauses, and of course, it CAN apply to a complete standard contract, if it is a complete boilerplate form. But boilerplate need not apply to an entire contract and may only apply to certain standard clauses.

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