tablet

English Online Dictionary. What means tablet‎? What does tablet mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English tablet, from Old French tablete (Modern French tablette), diminutive of table (“table”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: tăbʹlət, IPA^(key): /ˈtæblət/
• Rhymes: -æblət

Noun

tablet (plural tablets)

1. A slab of clay, stone or wood used for inscription.
2. (religion) A short scripture written by the founders of the Baháʼí Faith.
4. A pill; a small, easily swallowed portion of a substance in solid form.

   Coordinate term: capsule

5. A block of several sheets of blank paper that are bound together at the top; pad of paper.
6. (computing) A graphics tablet.
7. (computing) A tablet computer, a type of portable computer.
8. (Scotland) A confection made from sugar, condensed milk and butter, produced in flat slabs, with a grainer texture than fudge.
9. (rail transport) A type of round token giving authority for a train to proceed over a single-track line.

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Scottish Gaelic: tablaid

Translations

See also

• caplet
• capsule

Verb

tablet (third-person singular simple present tablets, present participle tableting or tabletting, simple past and past participle tableted or tabletted)

1. (transitive) To form (a drug, etc.) into tablets.

References

• “tablet”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• Battle, batlet, battel, battle

Dutch

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle French tablette.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /taːˈblɛt/
• Hyphenation: ta‧blet
• Rhymes: -ɛt

Noun

tablet f or n (plural tabletten, diminutive tabletje n)

1. tablet, pill (piece of medicine in solid state)
2. flat, rectangular piece or slab

Derived terms

• bruistablet
• kleitablet
• zuigtablet

Descendants

• → Indonesian: tablet

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English tablet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛ.blət/
• Hyphenation: ta‧blet

Noun

tablet m (plural tablets)

1. tablet computer

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch tablet, from Middle French tablette, from Old French tablete (Modern French tablette), diminutive of table (“table”), from Latin tabula. Doublet of tabel.

• Semantic loan from English tablet for tablet computer sense.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtablɛt]
• Hyphenation: ta‧blèt

Noun

tablèt (plural tablet-tablet)

1. tablet:
   1. (medicine, pharmacy) a pill; a small, easily swallowed portion of a substance

      Synonyms: gentel, pil

   2. a slab of clay used for inscription
   3. (computing) a tablet computer, a type of portable computer
2. flat, rectangular piece or slab

Derived terms

Further reading

• “tablet” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• tabelett, tabelet, tabblet, tabulet, tabulette

Etymology

From Old French tablete; equivalent to table +‎ -et.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtab(ə)lɛt(ə)/, /ˈtaːb(ə)lɛt(ə)/

Noun

tablet (plural tablettes)

1. A tablet, especially an easily carried one for writing on.
2. (biblical) The Ten Commandments in physical form handed down from heaven.
3. A level surface for painting or working upon.
4. A piece of jewellery with a level portion.
5. (rare) A marble slab utilised as tiling.
6. (rare) A pill; a tablet for medication.

Descendants

• English: tablet
• Scots: taiblet

References

• “tablet, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 27 June 2018.

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English tablet, from Middle English tablet, from Old French tablete.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈta.blɛt/
• Rhymes: -ablɛt
• Syllabification: ta‧blet

Noun

tablet m inan

1. (computing) digitizer, graphics tablet (small, easily swallowed portion of a substance)
2. (computing) tablet computer

Declension

Further reading

• tablet in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• tablet in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English tablet.

Pronunciation

Noun

tablet m (plural tablets)

1. (computing) tablet computer (a type of portable computer)

   Synonym: táblete

Further reading

• “tablet”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English tablet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtablet/ [ˈt̪a.β̞let̪]
• Rhymes: -ablet
• Syllabification: ta‧blet

Noun

tablet m or f same meaning (plural tablets)

1. (computing) tablet

   Synonym: tableta

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

• Manuel Seco, Olimpia Andrés, Gabino Ramos (3 August 2023), “tablet”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA [BBVA Foundation]