Meanings
plural patens
- ChristianityThe plate used to hold the host during the Eucharist.
An enameled miniature of Christ is set in the center of a jeweled alabaster paten, the plate that holds the bread during Communion services.
1980, Colin Thubron, Seafarers: The Venetians, page 411 more example
He longed […] to stand aloof from the altar, forgotten by the people, his shoulders covered with a humeral veil, holding the paten within its folds […].
1916, James Joyce, chapter IV, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC - archaeologyAny shallow dish found in an archaeological site.
Origin
- Ancient Greekπατάνη
- Latinpatina
- Old Frenchpatene
- Middle Englishpatene
- Englishpaten
From Middle English patene, from Old French patene, from Latin patina, from Ancient Greek πατάνη (patánē). Doublet of patina, patine, and patena.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian дискос
- дискос (diskos)plate for the host during Eucharist
Catalan patena
- patenaplate for the host during Eucharist
Czech patena
- patenaplate for the host during Eucharist
Dutch pateen
- pateenplate for the host during Eucharist
Finnish pateeni, öylättilautanen
- pateeniplate for the host during Eucharist
- öylättilautanenplate for the host during Eucharist
French patène
- patèneplate for the host during Eucharist
German Patene
- Pateneplate for the host during Eucharist
Icelandic patína
- patínaplate for the host during Eucharist
Indonesian patena
- patenaplate for the host during Eucharist
Italian patena
- patenaplate for the host during Eucharist
Polish patena
- patenaplate for the host during Eucharist
Portuguese pátena, patena
- pátenaplate for the host during Eucharist
- patenaplate for the host during Eucharist
Spanish patena
- patenaplate for the host during Eucharist
Swedish paten
- patenplate for the host during Eucharist
Tagalog patena
- patenaplate for the host during Eucharist
Ukrainian ди́скос
- ди́скос (dýskos)plate for the host during Eucharist
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with paten
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
paten. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paten
“paten.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paten. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “paten,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paten.
Source: paten on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.