tabula rasa

(tab′yə lə rā′sə)

a blank tablet; clean slate: used esp. of the mind when regarded as blank until impressions are recorded upon it by experience

Origin: ML < L tabula (see table) + rasa, fem. pp. of radere, to scrape, erase

See tabula rasa in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun pl. tab·u·lae ra·sae (tăbˈyə-lēˌ räˈsē, -zē)

a. The mind before it receives the impressions gained from experience.
b. The unformed, featureless mind in the philosophy of John Locke.
A need or an opportunity to start from the beginning.

Origin:

Origin: Medieval Latin tabula rāsa

Origin: : Latin tabula, tablet

Origin: + Latin rāsa

Origin: , feminine of rāsus, erased

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