1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Paten

PATEN (through the Fr. from Lat. patina or patena, Gr. πατάνη, a flat dish), the name of the shallow plate or dish used in the celebration of the Eucharist for the consecrated bread or wafer. The paten has from the first been almost always of a circular shape. There is a rare example of a rectangular one, dating from the 7th century, in the Cabinet des Medailles in Paris. The central portion of the paten is sometimes decorated with the engraved head of the Saviour, or commonly with a group of lobes.