floorplate

English

Alternative forms

• floor plate

Etymology

From floor +‎ plate.

Noun

floorplate (plural floorplates)

1. A (usually metal) plate used as industrial flooring.
2. A horizontal, structural, load-bearing member in platform framing (wooden building framing). Also called bottom plate, sill plate, sole plate or (lower) wall plate.
3. The structural base plate of the floors (storeys) of a building, usually made up of bottom panels, floor panels, floor slabs, paving slabs, hollow core slabs or beams or joists in timber constructions.
   • 2007 July 25, Alison Gregor, “Serving Small Tenants With Offices Cut Down to Size”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     In that new building, which has large 40,000-square-foot floorplates, some of the large tenants may want to be assured of an option to grow.

4. (biology) A specialized glial structure integral to the developing nervous system of vertebrate organisms.