tankette

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noun

An early, very small, lightly armoured tank, with a crew of one or two, equipped with machine guns.

OriginEnglish tank ← Portuguese tanque ← Gujarati ટાંકી (ṭā̃kī) →
Scrabble 12
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Meanings

nountankette (plural tankettes)

plural tankettes

  1. historicalgovernmentAn early, very small, lightly armoured tank, with a crew of one or two, equipped with machine guns.

Origin

  1. Prakrit𑀝𑀁𑀓 (ṭaṃka)
  2. Gujaratiટાંકી (ṭā̃kī)
  3. Portuguesetanque
  4. Englishtank
  5. Englishtankette

From tank + -ette.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan tanqueta
  • tanquetaA small tank
Czech tančík
  • tančíkA small tank
Esperanto tanketo
  • tanketoA small tank
French chenillette
  • chenilletteA small tank
Japanese 豆戦車
  • 豆戦車 (mamesensha)A small tank
Polish tankietka
  • tankietkaA small tank
Portuguese tanqueta
  • tanquetaA small tank
Russian танке́тка
  • танке́тка (tankétka)A small tank
Spanish tanqueta
  • tanquetaA small tank
Cite this entry
APA

tankette. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tankette

MLA

“tankette.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tankette. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tankette,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tankette.

Source: tankette on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.