tabula rasa

[ tab-yuh-luh-rah-suh, -zuh, rey-; Latin tah-boo-lah rah-sah ]

/ ˈtæb yə lə ˈrɑ sə, -zə, ˈreɪ-; Latin ˈtɑ bʊˌlɑ ˈrɑ sɑ /

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See synonyms for tabula rasa on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural ta·bu·lae ra·sae

[tab-yuh-lee rah-see, -zee, rey-; Latin tah-boo-lahy rah-sahy]. /ˈtæb yəˌli ˈrɑ si, -zi, ˈreɪ-; Latin ˈtɑ bʊˌlaɪ ˈrɑ saɪ/.

a mind not yet affected by experiences, impressions, etc.

anything existing undisturbed in its original pure state.

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Origin of tabula rasa

First recorded in1525–35, tabula rasa is from Latin tabula rāsa “scraped tablet, clean slate”

Words nearby tabula rasa

Taborite, tabouli, tabret, Tabriz, tabular, tabula rasa, tabularize, tabulate, tabulator, tabun, TAC

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use tabula rasa in a sentence

I’m going to cast away those things and really approach this tabula rasa.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta Now Knows the World Better by Seeing How People Evaluate Risk|Pallabi Munsi|April 23, 2021|Ozy
He narrowed down the key genes responsible for instructing tabula rasa cells to become other types of cells, but the animals were still many steps removed from humans.
Scientists Report Creating the First Embryo With Human and Non-Human Primate Cells|Alice Park|April 15, 2021|Time
During the Enlightenment, the fresh start idea was given a philosophical boost when John Locke argued that each person begins life with a tabula rasa, what we think of today as a “blank slate.”
Are You Ready for a Fresh Start? (Ep. 455)|Stephen J. Dubner|March 18, 2021|Freakonomics
Rasa said 15 people were injured in the attack, and four of them are in critical condition.
Another Campus Attack, This Time With a Knife|Christine Pelisek|April 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST

“All the injuries we treated were consistent with laceration-type injuries,” said Rasa.
Another Campus Attack, This Time With a Knife|Christine Pelisek|April 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Rasa added: “As far as I can tell most of the victims were students.”
Another Campus Attack, This Time With a Knife|Christine Pelisek|April 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST
“It was a chaotic scene,” said Capt. Robert Rasa of the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department.
Another Campus Attack, This Time With a Knife|Christine Pelisek|April 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Asked why the suspect would use a knife, Rasa had no explanation.
Another Campus Attack, This Time With a Knife|Christine Pelisek|April 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In his Tabula ad situandos et concordandos menses cum signis in dorso astrolabii in Atti della soc.
Giovanni Boccaccio, a Biographical Study|Edward Hutton
The soul, originally a tabula rasa, is gradually perfected by the ideas which theoretical speculation acquires.
A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy|Isaac Husik
It was said to be impossible to escape, from one end of the country to the other, the tin-tan-tabula of their jubilation.
I, Thou, and the Other One|Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr
The two former are lost, and most scholars deny the authenticity of the Tabula on the ground of material and verbal anachronisms.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5|Various
Item alia tabula expositoria vocabulorum difficilium eiusdem Biblie.
Old English Libraries|Ernest Savage

British Dictionary definitions for tabula rasa

tabula rasa

/ (ˈtæbjʊlə ˈrɑːsə) /

noun plural tabulae rasae (ˈtæbjʊliː ˈrɑːsiː)

(esp in the philosophy of Locke) the mind in its uninformed original state

an opportunity for a fresh start; clean slate

Word Origin for tabula rasa

Latin: a scraped tablet (one from which the writing has been erased)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for tabula rasa

tabula rasa

[ (tab-yuh-luh rah-zuh, rah-suh) ]

Something new, fresh, unmarked, or uninfluenced. Tabula rasa is Latin for “blank slate.”

notes for tabula rasa

John Locke believed that a child's mind was a tabula rasa.

tabula rasa

Origin of tabula rasa

Words nearby tabula rasa

Words related to tabula rasa

How to use tabula rasa in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for tabula rasa

Word Origin for tabula rasa

Cultural definitions for tabula rasa

notes for tabula rasa