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

It set out to compare current oral semaglutide products against orforglipron, which is also taken as a daily tablet.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026

‘The Bear’ returns for its final season, Olivia Wilde directs a dinner-party dramedy, Woody and Buzz face down a tablet in ‘Toy Story 5,’ and much, much more.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

David Naranjo of market research firm Counterpoint said he expected other PC and tablet brands would follow Apple by upping their costs.

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

The story follows the beloved band of toys as they grapple with the introduction of technology into their home, with a tablet named Lilypad.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2026

Ben sweeps his finger over his tablet and shakes his head.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

Some people on the tablets or injections may experience stomach pain, headaches and tiredness.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

Most electronics—laptops, tablets, gaming devices, phones, your next car, your next smart TV—are getting way more expensive, thanks to a simple supply-and-demand conundrum.

From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026

For example, it says the facility doesn’t provide headphones for tablets, making private phone calls — including privileged calls with attorneys — impossible unless the detainee can afford to purchase headphones from the commissary.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

It started with tablets and Microsoft’s discontinued HoloLens, and now relies on next-gen smartglasses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

There was no text, only photograph after photograph of broken tablets with the inscriptions—in Linear B—reproduced in facsimile in the bottom.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

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 Melville, Herman

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 Melville, Herman

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