table

table
\ \ [12] Latin tabula originally denoted a ‘board’ or ‘plank’, and hence a ‘slab for writing on’ and a ‘list or similar arrangement of words or figures written on such a slab’ (as in a ‘table of contents’). It was in the farther outposts of the Roman empire that the sense ‘piece of furniture for serving meals on’ emerged – possibly in Frankish, where it would have been a direct translation of the term used for ‘table’, which meant literally ‘serving board’ (until tables with legs found their way northward from Greece and Rome, food had been served on individual trays or boards). In much of the empire it became established as the word for ‘table’ (and it passed into English via Old French table), although in Spanish the original Latin term mensa survived as mesa. Derivatives in English include entablature [17], tableau [17] (originally a French diminutive form), tablet, tabloid, and tabular [17].
\ \ Cf.ENTABLATURE, TABLEAU, TABLET, TABLOID, TABULAR

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • table — [ tabl ] n. f. • 1050; var. taule XIIIe (→ tôle); lat. tabula « planche, tablette » I ♦ Objet formé essentiellement d une surface plane horizontale, généralement supportée par un pied, des pieds, sur lequel on peut poser des objets. 1 ♦ Surface… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • table — TABLE. s. f. Meuble ordinairement de bois, fait d un ou de plusieurs ais, & posé sur un, ou plusieurs pieds; & dont on se sert pour manger, pour escrire, pour joüer, &c. Table de chesne. table de bois de noyer. table de marqueterie. table à un… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • TABLE —     Table, s. f., terme très étendu qui a plusieurs significations.     Table à manger, table de jeu, table à écrire. Première table, seconde table, table du commun. Table de buffet, table d hôte, où l on mange à tant par repas; bonne table,… …   Dictionnaire philosophique de Voltaire

  • Table — Ta ble, n. [F., fr. L. tabula a board, tablet, a painting. Cf. {Tabular}, {Taffrail}, {Tavern}.] 1. A smooth, flat surface, like the side of a board; a thin, flat, smooth piece of anything; a slab. [1913 Webster] A bagnio paved with fair tables… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • table — Ta ble, n. [F., fr. L. tabula a board, tablet, a painting. Cf. {Tabular}, {Taffrail}, {Tavern}.] 1. A smooth, flat surface, like the side of a board; a thin, flat, smooth piece of anything; a slab. [1913 Webster] A bagnio paved with fair tables… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • table — Table, f. penac. Vient par syncope du Latin Tabula, comme de Seculum, Crustulum, Seclum, Crustlum, et signifie en general un ais de bois long et quarré. Selon laquelle signification on dit Entablature, où plusieurs tels ais sont rengez pair à… …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • table — [tā′bəl] n. [OFr < L tabula, a board, painting, tablet < ? IE * taldhla < base * tel , flat, a board > OE thille, thin board, flooring] 1. Obs. a thin, flat tablet or slab of metal, stone, or wood, used for inscriptions 2. a) a piece… …   English World dictionary

  • Table A — A standard set of Articles of Association which can be incorporated by reference in the Articles of Association of any company. It is usually used to cover non essential procedural issues. Found in the Companies (Tables A F) Regulations 1985… …   Law dictionary

  • table — [n1] furniture upon which to work, eat bar, bench, board, buffet, bureau, console, counter, desk, dining table, dinner table, dresser, lectern, pulpit, sideboard, sink, slab, stand, wagon; concept 443 table [n2] meal bill of fare, board, cuisine …   New thesaurus

  • Table — Ta ble (t[=a] b l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Tabled} (t[=a] b ld); p. pr. & vb. n. {Tabling} (t[=a] bling).] 1. To form into a table or catalogue; to tabulate; as, to table fines. [1913 Webster] 2. To delineate, as on a table; to represent, as in a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • table — ► NOUN 1) a piece of furniture with a flat top and one or more legs, for eating, writing, or working at. 2) a set of facts or figures systematically displayed. 3) (tables) multiplication tables. 4) food provided in a restaurant or household: food …   English terms dictionary

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