tabula rasa
A mind, as of a newborn, free of any impressions, notions, ideas, etcA mind, as of a newborn, free of any impressions, notions, ideas, etc.
» The teacher referred to young Tom as a “tabula rasa”.
Meaning
2 sensesA mind, as of a newborn, free of any impressions, notions, ideas, etc.
Near-synonym: clean slate
Anything which exists in a pristine state.
Near-synonyms: clean slate, blank slate
чистая доскаčistaja doska, та́була ра́саtábula rása, та́була ра́заtábula ráza
- a young mind not yet affected by experience (according to John Locke)
- an opportunity to start over without prejudice
Examples
1 sentencesThe teacher referred to young Tom as a “tabula rasa”.
Translations
7 languagesBy meaning 1
Origin
Unadapted borrowing from Latin tabula rāsa (literally “erased tablet”), where the collocatUnadapted 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).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: tabulae rasae| Singular | tabula rasa |
|---|---|
| Plural | tabulae rasae |
irregular · Lesson
Synonyms
3 synonyms- an opportunity to start over without prejudice:fresh startclean slate
Word family
8 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Plural nouns — Because its plural is irregular