tablet

Etymology

From Middle English tablet, from Old French tablete (Modern French tablette), diminutive of table (“table”).

noun

1. A slab of clay, stone or wood used for inscription.
   Also mentioned is the Rev. T. Stock, who has a tablet in St John's church [Gloucester] and "who with Raikes established the four original Sunday schools in this parish ... in 1780. From this small beginning sprung that gratuitous system of Christian instruction which has covered the face of England and Wales with schools." January 11 2023, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: castles and cathedrals”, in RAIL, number 974, page 56
2. (religion) A short scripture written by the founders of the Bahá'í faith.
3. A pill; a small, easily swallowed portion of a substance.
   Many people take vitamin tablets as a food supplement.
4. A block of several sheets of blank paper that are bound together at the top; pad of paper.
   Take a full-size writing tablet and follow these steps. 2005, Kenneth T. Henson, Writing for Publication: Road to Academic Advancement, page 80
5. (computing) A graphics tablet.
6. (computing) A tablet computer, a type of portable computer.
7. (Scotland) A confection made from sugar, condensed milk and butter, produced in flat slabs, with a grainer texture than fudge.
8. (rail transport) A type of round token giving authority for a train to proceed over a single-track line.
   The latter's loss of time between Manakau and Levin was due to the mishap of dropping the tablet at Ohau, which entailed an out-of-course stop of 3 min. to recover it. 1939 November, “Overseas Railways: Locomotive Performance in New Zealand”, in Railway Magazine, page 351

verb

1. (transitive) To form (a drug, etc.) into tablets.