Etymologically
Log in

tablette

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the French word tablette

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1175 Chrétien de Troyes More words from the 12th century
Ultimate origin
Latin tabula
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin tabula
Catalan taula
French table
French tablette
Italian tavola
Spanish tabla
From the same root
Latin tabella ← tabula
Latin tabulārium ← tabula
Latin tabulātum ← tabula
French tableau ← table
Italian tavolato ← tavola
Italian tavolo ← tavola

Pronunciation

Forms

tablette f (plural tablettes)[1] Old French tablete (about 1175); the spelling tablette from about 1215.[2][3] Anglo-Norman tabelet, tablete.[4]

Etymology

It is formed from French table + -ette, as a diminutive.[5][2][1] The Old French form was tablete.[1][3]

Cognate with Walloon tâblett, Occitan tauleta, Spanish tableta, Portuguese taboleta and Italian tavoletta.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Grand Robert and the GLLF find tablete about 1175 in Chrétien de Troyes as the name of a kind of drum.[3][2] The TLFi's first record is about 1225, in Péan Gatineau's life of Saint Martin, for a board set up to put something on.[5]

Semantic evolution

Like table, it took several senses.[7] From about 1280 it named a small wooden board coated with wax, written on with a stylus; this sense is now only historical, apart from the plural tablettes and the phrase écrire sur ses tablettes “to make a note of something” (en ses tablettes, 1466).[5][7] The Académie recorded ôtez cela de dessus vos tablettes in 1694, and rayez cela de vos tablettes in 1718.[5] A small horizontal shelf (about 1278), the stone or wooden slab of a mantelpiece or window sill (1701) and a carpenter's board (1680) belong to the building trades.[7][5]

From 1564 (Ambroise Paré) it was a flat solid medicine, and in 1690 also other foods pressed into flat shapes,[5][7] hence tablette de chocolat; in Quebec this is called a palette.[7] In Quebec French, mettre sur la tablette means to shelve something or set someone aside.[7][8] In 2010, with the first tablet computers, the word was applied to these devices.[7] English tablet (about 1300) comes from Old French tablete or from Medieval Latin tabuleta.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 1175 – Tablete is used for a kind of drum by Chrétien de Troyes.[3][2]
  • c. 1225 – A board to set things on, in Péan Gatineau.[5]
  • c. 1280 – A wax-coated writing tablet, in the Clef d'amour.[5]
  • c. 1300 – English borrows tablet.[9]
  • 1466 – Mectre en mes tablettes “to note down” is recorded.[5]
  • 1564 – Ambroise Paré uses it for a flat medicine.[5]
  • 1690 – Furetière records it for a moulded flat food.[5]
  • 1701 – The slab of a mantelpiece or window sill.[5]
  • 2010 – It names the tablet computer.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A small horizontal shelf, as in a cupboard or bookcase.[8][10]
  2. A thin slab of marble, stone or wood on a mantelpiece, a window sill or a balustrade.[10][5]
  3. A flat bar of a food or other product: tablette de chocolat, une tablette de chewing-gum.[10][11]
  4. (pharmacy) A flat lozenge made with sugar and an active ingredient.[10][6]
  5. (historical) A small board, especially one coated with wax, for writing on: tablettes de cire.[8][5]
  6. (computing) A tablet computer.[11][1]
  7. (computing) Tablette graphique: a graphics tablet used as an input device.[10]

Usage notes

Noter sur ses tablettes means to make a note of something and remember it, and rayer de ses tablettes to put it out of one's mind.[8][11] In Quebec, être sur la tablette means to be sidelined.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Tablette.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/tablette. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·