template

malline, kaavain, mallipohja A physical object whose shape is used as a guide to make other objects.
A generic model or pattern from which other objects are based or derived.
puhekieltä A macromolecule which provides a pattern for the synthesis of another molecule.
{{quote-journal|2002|S. Lottin et al.|Thioredoxin post-transcriptional regulation by H19 provides a new function to mRNA-like non-coding RNA|Nature|volume=21|issue=10|url=http://www.nature.com/onc/journal/v21/n10/abs/1205233a.html
(lbl) A partially defined class or function, that can be instantiated in a variety of ways depending on the instantiation arguments.

A template is a blueprint or formula for creating a generic class or a function. (cite-web)