tablet
TAB-luht
Tablet (noun) means a small, solid, easy-to-swallow piece of medicine or a supplement. Example: “The nurse told him to swallow one tablet with water after breakfast.”
noun
1
A small, solid, easy-to-swallow piece of medicine or a supplement.
"The nurse told him to swallow one tablet with water after breakfast."
"She took a paracetamol tablet for her headache."
"The vitamins come as chewable tablets."
2
A flat touchscreen computer that is larger than a phone but thinner and lighter than a laptop.
"The children watched cartoons on a tablet during the long car journey."
"She read the news on her tablet while the kettle boiled."
"He sketched the illustration on his tablet during the flight."
3
A flat slab of stone, clay, or wood carved or written on, or a bound pad of blank paper.
"A stone tablet by the church door lists the names of local soldiers."
"He jotted the shopping list on a tablet of yellow paper."
"Archaeologists uncovered a clay tablet covered in ancient script."
How to use tablet
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishDepending on context: a pill, a portable touchscreen computer, or a flat inscribed slab.
Common pairings
take a tablet
a graphics tablet
an ancient tablet
a stone tablet
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Word forms
- Plural
- tablets
- Third person singular
- tablets
- Past tense
- tableted, tabletted
Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
The nurse told him to swallow one _____ with water after breakfast.
Etymology
From Old French tablete, a small version of table, ultimately from Latin tabula, "board" or "plank."
Related words
Frequently asked questions
What does “tablet” mean?
The word “tablet” means a small, solid, easy-to-swallow piece of medicine or a supplement. In plain terms, depending on context: a pill, a portable touchscreen computer, or a flat inscribed slab.
How do you pronounce “tablet”?
“Tablet” is pronounced TAB-luht (/ˈtæblət/ in IPA).
How do you use “tablet” in a sentence?
Here is “tablet” used in a sentence: “She took a paracetamol tablet for her headache.”
What part of speech is “tablet”?
“Tablet” is a noun.
Where does the word “tablet” come from?
The word “tablet” comes from Latin. From Old French tablete, a small version of table, ultimately from Latin tabula, "board" or "plank.".
Is “tablet” a common word?
“Tablet” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.
How many meanings does “tablet” have?
“Tablet” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a small, solid, easy-to-swallow piece of medicine or a supplement.
What is the difference between a tablet, a capsule, and a pill?
"Pill" is the everyday umbrella word for any small, solid piece of medicine you swallow. A tablet is medicine compressed into a small, solid, easy-to-swallow form, while a capsule holds the medicine inside a soluble shell. So tablets and capsules are both pills; they differ in how the medicine is packaged.
Is an iPad a tablet?
Yes. A tablet is a flat touchscreen computer larger than a phone but thinner and lighter than a laptop, and the iPad is Apple's brand of tablet. People sometimes say "iPad" loosely for any tablet, but it is one brand among many.
What is the difference between a tablet and a laptop?
A tablet is a flat touchscreen computer controlled mainly by touch, thinner and lighter than a laptop. A laptop folds shut around a built-in physical keyboard and typically runs full desktop software. Modern "2-in-1" devices blur the line by pairing a tablet screen with a detachable keyboard.
What were tablets before computers?
Long before touchscreens, a tablet was a flat slab of stone, clay, or wood that was carved or written on — the format in which many early documents survive — or a bound pad of blank paper. The modern touchscreen device took the name from that flat, slate-like shape.
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