tablet

American  

[tab-lit] / ˈtæb lɪt /

noun

• tablets
  plural

1. a number of sheets of writing paper, business forms, etc., fastened together at the edge; pad.

   Advertisers keep sending us these tablets of memo paper with their logo.

2. a thin, flat sheet of slate, wax-coated wood, or other rigid material formerly used for writing or marking on, especially one of a pair or set tablets hinged or otherwise fastened together.

3. a flat slab or surface, especially one bearing or intended to bear an inscription, carving, or the like.

   Synonyms:

   plaque

4. a small, flattish cake or piece of some solid or solidified substance, such as a drug, chemical, or freeze-dried food.

   She felt better after taking a decongestant tablet.

   A larger garment will require two dye tablets.

5. Also called tablet computer.  Also called slate.  a small, very thin, portable computer, usually battery-powered, having a touchscreen as the primary interface and input device, and often lacking a cover.

   I’ve entered the appointment in the calendar on my tablet.

   I never go anywhere without my tablet.

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verb (used with object)

tableted, tabletted, tableting, tabletting

1. to form into pills, small cakes, pellets, etc..

   The tableted vitamins should be swallowed without chewing.

2. to mark or inscribe (memoranda, notes, etc.) on a tablet.

   Too often, our innovative ideas are politely tableted by company executives and never thought of again.

3. to furnish with a plaque or flat piece of material bearing an inscription, carving, or the like.

tablet British  

/ ˈtæblɪt /

noun

1. a medicinal formulation made of a compressed powdered substance containing an active drug and excipients

2. a flattish cake of some substance, such as soap

3. a sweet made of butter, sugar, and condensed milk, usually shaped in a flat oblong block

4. a slab of stone, wood, etc, esp one formerly used for inscriptions

5. 1. a thinner rigid sheet, as of bark, ivory, etc, used for similar purposes

   2. (often plural) a set or pair of these fastened together, as in a book

6. a pad of writing paper

7. a token giving right of way to the driver of a train on a single line section

8. computing an input device that allows the user to draw or write freehand to screen by means of stylus or digital pen

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tablets
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tablet

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English tablette, from Middle French tablete; equivalent to table + -et

Explanation

A tablet can be a slab of stone, like an engraved tablet discovered by an archaeologist, or a small disc of medicine, like a tablet of aspirin. You can also use the noun tablet to mean "writing pad" or "small computer with a touch screen." The earliest meaning of the word is "surface for inscription," the writing pads of the ancient world, which were made of stone, clay, or wax. The Latin root of tablet is tabula, "board, writing table, or list."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tablet tablets tableted tabletting

The tablet records a royal grant and indicates that Tiglath-pileser probably ruled from roughly 763-762 BCE before eventually being deposed.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026

On a recent Friday night, he was swiping through a tablet, showing four different interfaces of reservation apps.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

The tablet setup was designed to subtly influence how each person sat.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026

One of the models resembles a miniature tablet when unfolded.

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

I wait until Dad’s footsteps thump against the staircase before I grab my tablet.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas

Wetherspoons has banned its customers from playing music out loud or taking calls on speaker, saying the noise from phones and tablets was an increasing problem driving people "nuts".

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

About 90% of women who choose to end a pregnancy have a medical abortion which involves taking tablets at home.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Lenovo’s intelligent-devices group, which includes PCs, smartphones and tablets, saw 27% revenue growth amid surging memory costs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

What neither trial’s critics nor defenders noticed at the time: Pauling and Cameron had started with vitamin C into a vein; the Mayo Clinic trials used tablets only.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

Ignatius searched his room, flinging Big Chief tablets around, mashing them underfoot, dragging them from beneath his bed.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

When the party arrived on the beach, they found Captain Paul writing with pencil on paper held up against the smooth tableted side of the cliff.

From Israel Potter by Herman Melville

Tied among the thickets were some twenty moaning tortoises, supplying Hunilla's lonely larder; while hundreds of vast tableted black bucklers, like displaced, shattered tomb-stones of dark slate, were also scattered round.

From The Piazza Tales by Herman Melville

The previous month and from within Europe, Denmark’s Novo Nordisk announced an investment of 432 million euros in a new tabletting facility.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026

Related Words

• capsule
• dose
• medicine
• pellet
• pill