boilerplate vs commonplace

boilerplate

noun
  • Formulaic or hackneyed language. 

  • A sheet of copper or steel used in the construction of a boiler. 

  • Syndicated material. 

  • The rating plate or nameplate required to be affixed to a boiler by the Boiler Explosions Act (1882). 

  • Standard text or program code used routinely and added with a text editor or word processor; text of a legal or official nature added to documents or labels. 

  • Hard, icy snow which may be dangerous to ski on. 

  • A plate attached to industrial machinery, identifying information such as manufacturer, model number, serial number, and power requirements. 

adj
  • Describing text or other material of a standard or routine nature. 

  • Used to refer to a non-functional spacecraft used to test configuration and procedures. 

verb
  • To store (standard text) so that it can easily be retrieved for reuse. 

commonplace

noun
  • A platitude or cliché. 

  • A commonplace book. 

  • Something that is ordinary; something commonly done or occurring. 

  • A memorandum; something to be frequently consulted or referred to. 

adj
  • Ordinary; not having any remarkable characteristics. 

verb
  • To make a commonplace book. 

  • To enter in a commonplace book, or to reduce to general heads. 

How often have the words boilerplate and commonplace occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )