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 size of a tablet computer and attached to drones, the military-grade jammers can hinder Russian air defence systems from tracking and targeting such weapons in-flight, Downing Street said.

From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026

The electronic jammers are the size of a tablet computer, and are designed to block the detection of any drones it is fitted to.

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026

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

They used a tablet to dial into a video call led by Justin Trudeau.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

I hit delete on my tablet and started again.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

Caldwell also purchased 23,000 iPads to replace the aging tablets servers used to take orders, which often had such poor battery life they couldn’t last a full shift, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

New Mexico: The following items are tax-free between July 31 and Aug. 2: clothing and shoes under $100, computers and tablets under $1,000, other computer hardware under $500 and school supplies under $30 per item.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

Older versions of the story exist on clay tablets, but the water-damaged sections of parchment kept at the Manchester library are the most ancient version of the epic in "book" form.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 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

Now she was chewing on the antacid tablets.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

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