Why Do We Call Them Boilerplates?

One of the most powerful and useful WriteRAP features is boilerplates. What are boilerplates? They are reusable, pre-styled design elements: Figures with captions, chapter openers, etc.

Here is a chapter opener boilerplate:

Here is a set of figures in a row boilerplate:

The dummy text is simply replaced with the real text the author wants to place. The intention is to make the creation of these repeatable items easy. The author simply inserts a boilerplate into a document using the Boilerplates button on the WriteRAP toolbar.

But why, on earth, do we call them boilerplates? Boilerplate is a term from the 19th Century and has many uses, most of them mentioned in this Wikipedia article.