Tabula
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A plate or frame on which a title or inscription is carved. countable, uncountable
"The tabula is here seen to have an irregular structure of coarse mesh whose interstices are occupied by a finer mesh."
- 2 A table, index, or list of data. countable, uncountable
"Another tabula on third fly-leaf, and some writing in a later hand. Titles and initials throughout in red and blue."
- 3 A legal record. countable, uncountable
"However, as Ugolinus is known as an industrious, honourable man, acquainted with his subject, and who cannot easily be suspected of fraud, there is nothing against assuming the probability that at the publication of his work he had really before him such a tabula."
- 4 A writing-tablet, slate, or similar medium on which to write. countable, uncountable
"On the tabula of the mind she tried to write the word."
- 5 A frontal; a drapery for an altar. countable, uncountable
"Another tabula in the Textile Museum in Washington D.C. probably belonged to the same textile."
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- 6 An ancient Roman game similar to backgammon that was played on a board with 24 divisions. historical, uncountable
"Readers may like to make a tabula board and try a simple game from France using two cubic dice."
- 7 One of the transverse plants found in the calicles of certain corals and hydroids. countable, uncountable
"The tabulæ may be well developed, approximately horizontal, remote plates, as is usually the case in Zaphrentis and Amplexus, or they may anastomoze in various ways, and become so intimately connected with one another as to give rise to a species of vesicular tissue."
Example
More examples"The teacher referred to young Tom as a “tabula rasa”."
Etymology
From Latin tabula. Doublet of table and tavla.
Related phrases
More for "tabula"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.