from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. A plate, usually of gold or silver, that is used to hold the host during the celebration of the Eucharist. Also called patina1.
- n. A plate or shallow dish, especially an artifact from an ancient civilization.
- n. A thin disk of or resembling metal.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. The plate used to hold the host during the Eucharist.
- n. Any shallow dish found in an archaeological site.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. A plate.
- n. The place on which the consecrated bread is placed in the Eucharist, or on which the host is placed during the Mass. It is usually small, and formed as to fit the chalice, or cup, as a cover.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A broad shallow dish; a bowl.
- n. Eccles., a plate or flat dish; in the communion service of certain liturgical churches, the plate on which the consecrated bread is placed.
- n. A plate, as of metal.
- n. An obsolete form of patten.
- n. An iron plate used in making plate-armor.
The word paten comes from a Latin form patina or patena, evidently imitated from the Greek patane.
He receives the paten from the deacon and places the Host upon the corporal.
The eucharistic vessel known as the paten is a small shallow plate or disc of precious metal upon which the element of bread is offered to
Lot seventy-three, a quite remarkable example of early Byzantine artwork known as a paten.
A paten was a sacramental plate designed to hold the holy wafers.
A paten is a shallow circular dish of metal on which the bread is placed for the Eucharist, and represents the dish used at the Last Supper.
Over this he places a small silver or gold plate called the paten, on which he places a host -- that is, a thin piece of white bread prepared for Mass, perfectly round, and about the size of the bottom of
Patrick, and of them I have seen three square patens, that is, a paten in the Church of Patrick in Armagh, and another in the Church of Elphin, and
The paten is a vessel of the altar on which the altar-bread is offered in the Holy Sacrifice.
By the bye, that cup you seek is usually in a cabinet next to something called a 'paten'.