What does notebook mean?
A notebook is a small book or pad used to record notes, observations, sketches, or ideas. Its familiar physical sense evokes writing, study, planning, and personal recordkeeping, although the word can also refer more broadly to a computer notebook or, in technical computing, to a digital document made of interactive cells. A notebook is often associated with an individual’s working thoughts rather than a formal published text, which gives it a practical and personal character. The phrase notebook computer is traditional and remains clear, but notebook alone is also widely used for a portable computer. Because the word has expanded from a paper object to electronic tools for writing, coding, and analysis, it connects everyday note-taking with both academic and technological work. In all these senses, its central idea is a portable or organized place where information is gathered and developed.
nounA small book or pad used for writing notes, often with a protective cover. By extension, a notebook can mean a portable personal computer, especially a laptop, and in computing a digital, cell-based document used for code or analysis.
- A small book or pad in which notes, records, sketches, or other information are written.
- A portable personal computer, especially a laptop computer.
- A digital, cell-based document used in computing for writing code, recording results, and conducting interactive analysis.
"She jotted down the lecture's main points in a worn blue notebook before the presentation."
"The teacher wrote the lesson plan in a small notebook and carried it from classroom to classroom."
"I bought a lightweight notebook computer for traveling, but I still carry a paper notebook for sketching ideas."
The regular plural is formed by adding -s and is used for both paper notebooks and notebook computers.
"The shelf holds several notebooks filled with meeting notes and sketches."
The word notebook has traveled from a humble paper companion to a portable computer and even to a digital workspace for code and analysis.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does notebook come from?
Notebook is an English compound formed from note and book, both of which were established in English before the compound came into use. It originally referred to a book intended for making notes. The element note came through Old French from Latin nota, while book derives from Old English bōc; related words include notable, notation, and annotate. In the later twentieth century, notebook was extended to portable computers, and in technical computing the term was adopted for interactive, cell-based documents.
How notebook is actually used
In general use, notebook is a neutral term for a paper book or pad for notes. In computing, it commonly refers to a portable computer, while the digital-document sense is more specialized.
Easily confused with notebook
A notebook is typically a bound or stitched collection of pages, whereas a notepad is usually a loose pad or stack of removable sheets.