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 released a new tablet form of Wegovy in the United States in January, and the pill was recently approved for use in Europe.

From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026

Nor is this the first time Trump has appeared in tablet form.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 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

They were then asked to perform another task on a tablet while being told that the researchers were evaluating a mobile application.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026

I hear Thaya Jaan asking, so Baba hands over the tablet, and I say salaam.

From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan

The electronic-components maker is facing lower build volumes and weaker factory utilization amid a memory shortage and slower recovery in low- and mid-tier Android smart phones and tablets, they say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

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

Carriers reasoned that most passengers brought their own phones and tablets anyway.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Taking antiviral tablets for 8 to 12 weeks can cure more than 95% of cases.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

And Wang Lung’s son bought an incense urn and set it before the tablets.

From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck

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

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

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