notebook
- 01 A1 Beginner
a book with empty pages that you use for writing notes or drawing.
a book of plain, lined, or gridded paper used for recording memoranda, sketches, or academic notes.
Simple“She always carries a small notebook in her bag to write down new ideas.”
In context“The researcher filled several notebooks with handwritten observations before digitising the data for the final report.”
Usagecountable
- 02 A2 Elementary
a small, portable computer that you can carry easily.
a portable personal computer, typically small and light enough to be used on one's lap.
Simple“He opened his notebook to check his emails while waiting at the airport.”
In context“The company issued high-end notebooks to all remote employees to ensure they had sufficient processing power for video editing.”
Usagecountable
Teacher's tipWhile 'laptop' is more common in casual speech, 'notebook' is often used in technical or marketing contexts to emphasise portability.
- 03 C1 Advanced
a type of computer program where you can mix live code, math, and text.
a virtual environment or interface used in literate programming that allows for the integration of executable code, rich text, and data visualisations.
Simple“The data scientist shared a notebook containing the analysis and the charts.”
In context“By using a notebook interface, the team could document their algorithmic choices alongside the actual code execution for better reproducibility.”
Usageoften used as an attributive noun
Teacher's tipThis sense is specific to data science and software development, most commonly associated with tools like Jupyter.
Synonymscomputational notebook
“He began to loosen up, scribbling ideas in notebooks as they came to him, and dipping back into them during sessions.”
“Take your notebook … write it down,” says her brain.”
From note + book.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.