Etymograph

English

tablet

Tablet comes from Old French tablete ‘small table’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *taðlā ‘board’.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*taðlā1‘board’reconstructedearlier origin unknown
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtabula2‘tablet, sometimes a tablet covered with wax for writing’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400table3
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tablete3‘small table’diminutive of table
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tablet3‘a tablet, especially an easily carried one for writing on’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1939tablet3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin tabula
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old French table
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English tablet
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1939, Overseas Railways: Locomotive Performance in New Zealand: “The latter's loss of time between Manakau and Levin…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*taðlāWiktionary, Latin tabula‘board’reconstructedearlier origin unknown
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtabulaWiktionary, Old French table‘tablet, sometimes a tablet covered with wax for writing’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tableWiktionary, English tablet
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tableteWiktionary, English tablet‘small table’diminutive of table
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tabletWiktionary, English tablet‘a tablet, especially an easily carried one for writing on’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1939tabletWiktionary, English tablet. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1939, Overseas Railways: Locomotive Performance in New Zealand: “The latter's loss of time between Manakau and Levin…”

Linked words

through Latin tabula ‘tablet, sometimes a tablet covered with wax…’

tabular, tabula, tablature, 15 more

Today it means

noun A slab of clay, stone or wood used for inscription.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tablet”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin tabula, Old French table. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *taðlā / tablet

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