floorplate

plural floorplates · alternative floor plate

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.

   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.

   2007 July 25, Alison Gregor, “Serving Small Tenants With Offices Cut Down to Size”, in New York Times

4. biologyA specialized glial structure integral to the developing nervous system of vertebrate organisms.