What does paten mean?
A paten is a shallow dish or plate with a long history of use for bread and other food. Its best-known use is in the Christian Eucharist, where it holds the consecrated bread or communion wafers, often alongside the chalice that contains the wine. Such patens may be made of silver, gold, or another valued metal and are traditionally kept as part of a church’s liturgical objects. The word can also refer more generally to a low plate used for bread at a meal, though in ordinary modern English “plate” is usually clearer and more familiar. Paten has a formal, historical, and slightly ecclesiastical tone, making it especially appropriate when discussing religious ritual, ceremonial objects, or an earlier period of domestic life. Its principal associations are with shared meals, the presentation of bread, and the solemn preparation of communion.
nounA shallow dish or plate, especially one used to hold bread or wafers during the Christian Eucharist or a similar religious ceremony.
- A shallow dish or plate used especially to hold bread.
- A ceremonial plate used to hold the Eucharistic bread or wafers during a Christian service.
"The communion wafer was placed carefully on the silver paten."
"She passed around the table a paten filled with freshly baked rolls."
"The priest lifted the paten and broke the bread for the congregation."
The plural is uncommon, appearing chiefly in formal, historical, or religious contexts.
"Two ornate patens rested on the altar."
A paten has a solemn connection with the Eucharist: in many churches, it is the sacred plate from which communion bread is broken.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does paten come from?
The word entered English through Old French patène, ultimately from Latin patena, a shallow dish. Latin patena was closely related to patera, an old term for a broad, shallow bowl, and both forms are generally traced to a Proto-Indo-European word for a flat or broad vessel. English usage became especially established for the plate used to hold Eucharistic bread.
How paten is actually used
The word is somewhat literary and technical outside religious or historical contexts. In everyday use, “plate” is normally more natural, while “paten” is especially associated with church furnishings and ceremonial objects.
Easily confused with paten
A paten is a shallow dish, whereas a patent is a legal right, authorization, or invention protected by law.
A paten is a dish, while patina is the surface layer, often green or brown, that develops on metal.