| 释义 |
▪ I. tablet, n.|ˈtæblɪt|
Forms: 4–6 tablette, 5 tabulette, -elet(te, (taplet), 5–6 tablett, tabellet(t, 6 tabillette, Sc. teblet, tabullatte, 6– tablet.
[a. OF. tablete (13th c.), F. tablette, dim. of table, = Pr. tauleta, Sp. tableta, Pg. taboleta, It. tavoletta, med.L. tabuleta (1376 in Du Cange): see table n. and -et1, -ette.]
1. A small, flat, and comparatively thin piece of stone, metal, wood, ivory, or other hard material, artificially shaped for some purpose; a small slab.
a. A small slab of stone or metal bearing or intended to bear an inscription or carving, esp. one affixed to a wall as a memorial; also applied to a flat surface cut in a rock for the same purpose.
c1315Shoreham iii. 67 Ope two tablettes of ston..He hys [= them] wrot, Moyses by-tok. 1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 254 A taplet of marbyl [he] held in hys honde. 1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V cclxi, His single Honour needs noe Fret of Names..To glimer ore the Tablet. 1700Prior Carmen Sæculare 167 When..The pillar'd marble, and the tablet brass, Mouldering, drop the victor's praise. 1851Layard Pop. Acc. Discov. Nineveh Introd. 13 The most important trilingual inscriptions hitherto discovered are those..in the rock tablet of Behistun. Ibid. vii. 163 Four tablets have been cut in the rock. 1870F. R. Wilson Ch. Lindisf. 30 The mural tablets are also numerous.
b. A slab or panel, usually of wood, for a picture or inscription. votive tablet: an inscribed panel anciently hung in a temple in fulfilment of a vow, e.g. after deliverance from shipwreck or dangerous illness. Chiefly arch. or Hist.
1581G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 30 b, Others, with Tablets and pictures use to represent men and women in some infamous and dishonest act. a1700Dryden (J.), Through all Greece the young gentlemen learned..to design upon tablets of boxen wood. 1782V. Knox Ess. lxiii. 274 Apelles used to say, that Protogenes knew not when to take his hand from the tablet which he was painting. 1851D. Wilson Preh. Ann. (1863) II. iii. ii. 40 A votive tablet in honour of the Legate. 1869Lecky Europ. Mor. I. iii. 382 The votive tablets of those who escaped are suspended in the temple, while those who were shipwrecked are forgotten.
c. A small smooth inflexible or stiff sheet or leaf for writing upon; usually, one of a pair or set hinged or otherwise fastened together; anciently, of wood, or other material, covered with wax, written upon with a style, and used for correspondence, legal documents, etc.; in later times, of ivory, cardboard, or the like, carried in the pocket and used for memoranda; hence sometimes, in pl. tablets, applied vaguely to a note-book. Formerly called tables (table n. 2 b).
1611Shakes. Cymb. v. iv. 109 This Tablet lay vpon his Brest, wherein Our pleasure, his full Fortune, doth confine. 1780F. Burney Diary 29 Apr., Had I not kept memorandums in my tablets, I could not possibly give any account of our proceedings. 1836Marryat Japhet xl, I took out my tablets, and wrote down the address. 1860Rawlinson Herodotus vii. §239 IV. 196 Demaratus..took a pair of tablets, and clearing the wax away from them, wrote what the king was purposing to do upon the wood. 1883Chamb. Jrnl. 28 Apr. 266/2 There were unearthed nearly forty thousand inscribed tablets of unbaked clay. 1885Bible (R.V.) Isa. viii. 1 Take thee a great tablet, and write upon it with the pen of a man.
d. In general or various applications, as a slab or tile, used in roofing or flooring, a flat piece in some mechanism, etc.; in quot. 1782 applied to playing-cards. Also, a plaque of pottery; spec. one forming the central part of a chimney-piece. Cf. block n. 12 c.
c1440Pallad. on Husb. vi. 195 Now brode and thynne Tilette or tabulette of marbul stoon. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 395 A Bed made..on the Tablets upon the Tops of their Houses. 1768J. Wedgwood Let. 6 Nov. (1965) 68, I have lately had a Vision by night of some new Vases, Tablets &c with which Articles we shall certainly serve the whole World! 1782Cowper Progr. Err. 170 The painted tablets, dealt and dealt again. 1842I. Williams Baptistery i. (1874) 1 Quaint tablets rang'd some antique hearth around, Blue Holland porcelain, all rudely wrought. 1775,1875[see block n. 12 c]. 1970G. Savage Dict. Antiques 462/2 The year 1773 saw the first catalogue of ornamental wares, which included..tablets for chimney-pieces and furniture-mounts.
e. U.S. = pad n.3 4. Cf. writing tablet.
1880Geyer's Stationer 12 Aug. (Advt.), The M. & H. Blotter Tablet... Beware of tablets sold by J. C. Blair, as he is manufacturing without a legal right. 1897Sears, Roebuck Catal. 349/2 Everything from a 400 page tablet of fair paper for 4 cents, to one of fine cream laid paper. 1934Chain Store Age (Gen. Merchandise ed.) Jan. 57/2 The customer does not notice that there are three sheets less in a tablet. 1977Chicago Tribune 2 Oct. xii. 39/1 Cadillac boasts in its 1978 Seville that it has made ‘provision for a phone installation, writing pad, and pen’. But it's only a provision—you have to supply the phone, pen, and tablet.
f. A small metal disc similar in function to a ‘staff’ (staff n.1 9 f), and used for working single-track railways.
1897W. E. Langdon Applic. Electr. to Railway Working vi. 129 When the instruments are in their normal condition, all tablets being in, the very first ring from the station of whom the permission to withdraw a tablet is made..would..be equally serviceable for the purpose. 1950O. S. Nock Brit. Locomotives from Footplate 183 This train was booked non-stop between Arrochar and Crianlarich, but the slack for tablet exchange made it necessary to pass very slowly through Ardline. 1969Railway Mag. Feb. 88 (caption) The single-line tablet for the section to Kingussie is being given by the signalman to the driver.
g. A rigid card used in tablet-weaving (see sense 8 below).
1921M. & H. Peach tr. Pralle's Tablet Weaving 6 The earliest examples found of the little tablets for the weaving were of thin polished wood. 1964H. Hodges Artifacts x. 137 The tablets were generally oval or rectangular with a hole, or a pair of holes, at each end. 1970J. P. Wild Textile Manuf. in N. Roman Provinces vii. 73 Each tablet governs the four (or three) warp-threads which are threaded through its holes..; and the pack of tablets is held in the hand like a pack of cards.
†2. An ornament of precious metal or jewellery of a flat form, worn about the person. Obs. [Cf. med.L. tabula and tabuletus in Du Cange.]
c1400Mandeville (1839) 234 Euerych of hem bereth a tablett of Iaspere or of Iuory or of cristall. 1504Will Goodyear (Somerset Ho.), My tablet of golde that I was wonte to were abowte my nek. 1542Acc. Lord H. Treas. Scotl. VIII. 58 Chenȝeis, tabullattis, tergattis, bracelattis, ringis. 1546Inv. Ch. Goods (Surtees) 86 A great tablett of golde havyng in yt the ymage of Our Lady. 1583Golding Calvin on Deut. cxxvi. 774 These great lords & braue lads which wil needs weare tablets at their neckes yt is to say sumptuous Iewels for folke to gase at a great way off. 1611Bible Exod. xxxv. 22 And they came both men and women,..and brought bracelets, and earerings, and rings, & tablets, all iewels of gold. c1620Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 31 The tablets and the rings made for the eare.
3. a. A small flat or compressed piece of some solid confection, drug, or the like; a lozenge of flattened (originally rectangular) form; a flat cake of soap.
1582J. Hester Secr. Phiorav. i. xxix. 34 Giuing them euery mornyng one dragme of good Sope in tablettes accordyng to our inuention. 1626Bacon Sylva §970 It is yet in use, to wear little bladders of quicksilver, or tablets of arsenic, as preservatives against the plague. 1655Culpepper Riverius i. ii. 15 You may often use..these Tablets or Lozenges following. 1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Tablets, or solid Electuaries, are much the same with Lozenges. 1890Lancet 1 Nov. 39 (Advt., B. W. & Co.) The Bicarbonate of Potash and Bicarbonate of Soda ‘Tablets’ or ‘Tabloids’ prove efficacious in dyspepsia. 1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 996 [Trinitrine may be administered] in the form of tablets. 1902Times 30 Mar. 12/3 At this date the plaintiffs had used the word ‘tablet’ to denote compressed drugs,..but Mr. Wellcome set about finding a new word, and invented the word ‘tabloid’. Mod. A tablet of chocolate; a tablet of soap.
b. Hence, orig. and chiefly Sc. (also taiblet), a type of fudge (formerly hardbake or almond toffee) made in tablets; a piece of this.
1736Mrs. McLintock Receipts for Cookery 35 (heading) To make Orange Tablets with the Grate. 1850Mrs. Dalgairns Practice of Cookery 347 Ginger tablet may be made in this way. 1897Private Life of Queen xvii. 140 Among the favourites of the Queen..are..tablets, petits fours,..pralines, almond sweets. c1900Wee Macgregor i. 2, I want taiblet. Ibid. 5. 1922 ‘R. West’ Judge i. ii. 56 Here's some taiblet for you, lassie. 1948Good Housek. Cookery Bk. 643 Ginger Tablet, use the same ingredients as for Hazel Tablet, but omit the nuts and vanilla essence and add ½ oz. of ground ginger. 1973Times 13 Dec. 12/2 Tablet, for those who don't know, is a delicious, crumbly fudge that melts in your mouth—it's a Scottish speciality.
c. A piece of compacted powder of standard size, shape, and composition, ready for subsequent moulding.
1935[see preform n. 1]. 1936H. W. Rowell Technol. of Plastics xx. 148 A ‘tablet’ is of the correct weight and density required and is made of suitable diameter and thickness to fit the mould. It is made in a stock size of die and is not preformed to the approximate shape of the moulding. 1947R. L. Wakeman Chem. Commercial Plastics v. 76 Tablets and preforms fit freely inside the mold ultimately employed. 1974Gloss. Packaging Terms (B.S.I.) iii. 9 Tablet, a compressed mass of moulding material of prescribed form and mass.
†4. Short for tablet diamond: see sense 8. Obs.
1519Lett. & Pap. Hen. VIII, III. No. 463 (P.R.O.) Having an owche at the eend wherin is sett a fair table balas with iiij fair diamauntes wherof ij great poynted dyamaundes, oon tablet and oon losenge. Ibid., iiij diamauntes wherof ij poynted and ij tablettes.
5. Glass-making. = table n. 15 b. ? Obs.
1688[see table n. 15 b].
6. Arch. = table n. 12 a, b.
1788[see Gobelin 1]. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 444 A Tablet is a projection, fixed in a wall, with one face parallel to the surface. 1875Lewis & Street in Encycl. Brit. II. 390/1 The crowning tablet or fillet [of an Egyptian pylon or portico] is quite plain and unornamented.
7. Anat. = table n. 16.
1891in Cent. Dict.
8. attrib. and Comb.: tablet-book, a set of tablets for writing on; tablet check, in Telegraphy: see quot.; † tablet diamond = table diamond; † tablet jewel, ? = sense 2; tablet-letter, an ancient letter written on a tablet; tablet paper U.S., notepaper taken from a writing-pad; tablet tea, tea made up in tablets (sense 3); tablet-weaving, an early method of weaving, in which warp-threads are passed through holes in a number of parallel tablets, which are then rotated to form sheds; tablet-writing, writing on tablets.
1896Boscawen Bible & Mon. v. 110 The series of tablets when complete consisted of twelve *tablet-books.
1876Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 293 Every circuit..is supplied with a form called a *Tablet check, upon which each message as it goes off is ticked.
1530Lett. & Pap. Hen. VIII, IV. No. 6789 (P.R.O.) Rynges..oon with a *tablet dyamount. [Cf. sense 4 above.] 1598Yong Diana 91 Two iewels curiouslie enchased with tablet Diamonds.
1599Minsheu Sp. Dict., Dial. 15 Chaines of Ieat, Amber, or such like, *tablet Iewels, girdles [etc.].
1899T. Nicol Archaeol. & Bible v. 186 Seven of the *tablet-letters are from the Governor of Jerusalem.
1964Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 25 Feb. (1970) 73 The file..marked ‘particularly appealing’. Those were the letters that were taken to Mrs. Kennedy to read. They came written in poetry, they came in barely legible pencil on *tablet paper.
1891Daily News 5 June 5/6 ‘*Tablet tea’ and ‘brick tea’, so familiar in Russia,..are apt to be confounded by outsiders. The former..is made of the finest tea-dust procurable... It is manufactured by steam machinery, with the aid of steel moulds, under great pressure.
1921M. & H. Peach tr. Pralle's Tablet Weaving 6 *Tablet weaving..is considered the origin of all weaving. Ibid., In the Museum at Copenhagen..is a belt which must have been woven by this tablet-weaving method. 1950Proc. Prehist. Soc. XVI. 130 The archaeological material..is then reviewed, with a special note on the curious technique of tablet-weaving. 1979B. Cunliffe Celtic World 60/2 Finer weaving to make braid and a form of tablet weaving are also attested.
1905J. Orr Probl. O.T. Notes 525 Cuneiform *tablet-writing probably in some measure continued after the settlement in Canaan.
Add:[1.] h. Computing. [Perh. after sense 1 e above.] A flat, usu. rectangular surface upon which an object (as a stylus, finger, etc.) may be moved in order to specify location, the co-ordinates of the object on the surface being transmitted electronically to position a cursor, arrow, etc., on a VDU.
1964Proc. AFIPS Conf. XXVI. i. 325 The displayed ‘ink’ is visualized from the oscilloscope display while hand-directing the stylus position on the tablet. 1976Physics Bull. Nov. 491/2 (Advt.), Manual input devices such as light-pens, tablets and function keyboards. 1985Computing Equipment Sept. 16/1 A graphics tablet allowing sophisticated computer graphics facilities to be added at low cost to a wide variety of microcomputers has just been announced. 1990Amiga User Internat. May 18/3, I run an A500.., an NEC multisync monitor, a Cherry A3 digitising tablet and an HP Paintjet.
▪ II. tablet, v.|ˈtæblɪt|
[f. prec. n.]
1. a. trans. To furnish with a tablet (esp. one bearing an inscription); to affix a tablet to.
1864Reader 11 June 750 A large series of Irish and British fossils, about 17,000 specimens..named and tableted. 1883G. H. Boughton in Harper's Mag. Apr. 698/2 About the square were numbers of..old houses, with elaborately adorned gables, crow-stepped,..and tableted. 1894Westm. Gaz. 28 June 2/2 [The] chapel tableted with the names of some who have died in their country's service.
b. To inscribe on a tablet.
1878Masque of Poets 152 And tableted above Him Still we read ‘Love taught the smith to paint’.
2. trans. To make into a tablet; ? intr. to make tablets.
1889Sci. Amer. 7 Dec. 363/1 A formula for the preparation of liquid glue for tableting purposes, which can be applied cold and which will retain its elasticity. 1936H. W. Rowell Technol. of Plastics xx. 148 Tableting or preforming or pelleting a powder is generally done on automatic machines. 1963Times 4 May 11/5 In an article in a medical journal some time ago describing the clinical trial of a drug, reference was made to the manufacturer who ‘tableted and distributed’ the drug. 1973R. Parkes Guardians ii. 59 This heroin is comparable in quality to that being sniffed by U.S. troops in Vietnam and far superior to that being tableted for U.K. distribution.
Hence ˈtableted ppl. a., ˈtableting vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1889[see sense 2]. 1936H. W. Rowell Technol. Plastics xx. 148 Tableting machines measure the charge in this way. 1937Mod. Packaging Oct. 110/1 Small powdered, tableted and similar products. 1947R. L. Wakeman Chrm. Commercial Plastics v. 76 In compression operations, recourse is often had to tableting and preforming in order to speed up molding. 1972Materials & Technol. V. xxi. 763 The tabletting process consists of feeding free-flowing granules into a..die, and compressing the material. 1983Glaxo Group News Sept. 4/3 The accuracy and efficiency of single punch tabletting machines have been monitored by strain gauges. |