Meanings
plural tabulae rasae · plural tabulæ rasæ
- epistemologyA mind, as of a newborn, free of any impressions, notions, ideas, etc.
Near-synonym: clean slate
1 more example
We all admit now that the Child does not come into the world with a mental tabula rasa of entire forgetfulness but on the contrary as the possessor of vast stores of sub-conscious memory, derived from its ancestral inheritances; we all admit that a certain grace and intuitive insight and even prophetic quality, in the child-nature, are due to the harmonization of these racial inheritances in the infant, even before it is born; and that after birth the impact of the outer world serves rather to break up and disintegrate this harmony than to confirm and strengthen it.
1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 173Synonyms: blank slate, clean slate
- Anything which exists in a pristine state.
Near-synonyms: clean slate, blank slate
2 more examples
In his quest for rehabilitation, Connally is counting on the newspapers' behaving as they normally do: becoming tabulae rasae every 24 hours.
1975 October 27, Aaron Latham, “John Connally on the Comeback Road”, in New York, volume 8, number 43, pages 47–48Facebook was a “tabula rasa with carte blanche”, [Yann] LeCun says. “Money was clearly not going to be a problem.”
2026 January 3, Melissa Heikkilä, “Lunch with the FT: Yann LeCun”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3Synonyms: clean slate, blank slate
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA mind, as of a newborn, free of any impressions, notions, ideas, etc.
nounAnything which exists in a pristine state.
More synonyms by meaning
nounan opportunity to start over without prejudice
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latintabula rāsa
- Englishtabula rasa
Unadapted borrowing from Latin tabula rāsa (literally “erased tablet”), where the collocation comprised tabula (“wax-covered writing tablet”, noun) + rāsa, feminine singular of rāsus (“scraped, erased, cleaned (of text)”, participial adjective).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic صَفْحَة بَيْضَاء
- صَفْحَة بَيْضَاءthe idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
Danish ubeskrevet blad
- ubeskrevet bladthe idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
Dutch onbeschreven blad
- onbeschreven bladthe idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
Finnish tyhjä taulu, tabula rasa
- tyhjä tauluthe idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
- tabula rasathe idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
French tabula rasa
- tabula rasathe idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
Icelandic óskrifuð tafla, óskrifað blað
- óskrifuð taflathe idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
- óskrifað blaðthe idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
Indonesian tabula rasa
- tabula rasathe idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
Italian tabula rasa
- tabula rasathe idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
Japanese 白紙状態
- 白紙状態 (hakushi jōtai)the idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
Korean 백지상태
- 백지상태 (baekjisangtae)the idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
Norwegian Bokmål ubeskrevet blad, tabula rasa
- ubeskrevet bladthe idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
- tabula rasathe idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
Polish tabula rasa
- tabula rasathe idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
Portuguese tábula rasa
- tábula rasathe idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
Russian чистая доска, та́була ра́са
- чистая доска (čistaja doska)the idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
- та́була ра́са (tábula rása)the idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
- та́була ра́за (tábula ráza)the idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
Spanish tábula rasa, tabla rasa
- tábula rasathe idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
- tabla rasathe idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
Turkish boş levha
- boş levhathe idea that the mind comes into the world as a blank state
Cite this entry
tabula rasa. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tabula%20rasa
“tabula rasa.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tabula%20rasa. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tabula rasa,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tabula%20rasa.
Source: tabula rasa on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.