table

See also: Table and tablé

English

WOTD – 11 February 2015

Alternative forms

Etymology

A table (furniture)
A table of characters in the Arabic alphabet

    Inherited from Middle English table, tabel, tabil, tabul, from Old English tabele, tabul, tablu, tabule, tabula (“board”); also as tæfl, tæfel, an early Germanic borrowing of Latin tabula (“tablet, board, plank, chart”). The sense of “piece of furniture” is from Old French table, of same Latin origin; Old English used bēod or bord instead for this meaning: see board. Doublet of tabula and tavla.

    Pronunciation

    • enPR: tāʹbəl, IPA(key): /ˈteɪbl̩/
      • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): [ˈt(ʰ)eɪbɫ̩]
        • Audio (Received Pronunciation):(file)
      • (US) IPA(key): [ˈtʰeɪb(ə)ɫ]
      • (Australia) IPA(key): [ˈtʰæɪbəɫ]
      • (Canada) IPA(key): [ˈtʰeːb(ə)ɫ]
        • (dialectal) IPA(key): [ˈtɛːb(ə)ɫ]
    • Rhymes: -eɪbəl
    • Hyphenation: ta‧ble

    Noun

    table (plural tables)

    2. (countable) Furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses.
      Hypernym: furniture
      1. An item of furniture with a flat top surface raised above the ground, usually on one or more legs.
        Set that dish on the table over there, please.
        • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VI, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
          He had one hand on the bounce bottle—and he'd never let go of that since he got back to the table—but he had a handkerchief in the other and was swabbing his deadlights with it.
        • 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
          A very neat old woman, still in her good outdoor coat and best beehive hat, was sitting at a polished mahogany table on whose surface there were several scored scratches so deep that a triangular piece of the veneer had come cleanly away, […].
      2. A flat tray which can be used as a table.
      3. (by extension) A supply of food or entertainment.
        The baron kept a fine table and often held large banquets.
      4. (metonymic) A booth or display at an event such as an exposition or fair.
      5. (Christianity) A service of Holy Communion.
      6. The board or table-like furniture on which a game is played, such as snooker, billiards, or draughts.
        Hyponyms: billiard table, poker table, pool table, shuffleboard table, snooker table, table tennis table (ping pong table)
      7. (backgammon) One half of a backgammon board, which is divided into an inner and outer table.
        1. (plural, chiefly historical) The game of backgammon, or any of several related games.
    3. A group of people at a table, for example, for a meal, meeting or game; a meeting at a table.
      1. (uncountable) The act of assembling to eat; a gathering to eat, especially at a restaurant.
        Time to come to table.
        Join us at the table I booked at the restaurant.
      2. (poker, metonymic) The lineup of players at a given table.
        That's the strongest table I've ever seen at a European Poker Tour event.
      3. (roleplaying games, metonymic) A group of players meeting regularly to play a campaign.
      4. (waitstaff, metonymic) A group of diners at a given table or tables.
        Table 9 wants another round of beers.
        John always gets the best tips because he gets the best tables! It's not fair!
      5. (figurative) A session or sessions of negotiation or diplomacy; an opportunity or place for negotiations.
        under the table, on the table, turn the tables
        We need to send someone to represent us at the bargaining table.
        Some real breakthroughs were made at the summit, but only far from the official diplomatic table.
        He has remarkable skills and expertise to bring to the negotiating table.
    4. A two-dimensional presentation of data; an enumeration of data or contents.
      table of contents, tide table
      1. A matrix or grid of data arranged in rows and columns.
        Hypernym: array
        Synonyms: grid, vector
        • 1997, Chris Horrocks, Introducing Foucault, Totem Books, Icon Books, →ISBN, page 69:
          I’m using mathesis — a universal science of measurement and order …
          And there is also taxinomia a principle of classification and ordered tabulation.
          Knowledge replaced universal resemblance with finite differences. History was arrested and turned into tables …
          Western reason had entered the age of judgement.
      2. A collection of arithmetic calculations arranged in a table, such as multiplications in a multiplication table.
        The children were practising multiplication tables.
        Don’t you know your tables?
        Here is a table of natural logarithms.
      3. (computing, chiefly databases) A lookup table, most often a set of vectors.
      4. (sports) A visual representation of a classification of teams or individuals based on their success over a predetermined period.
        • 2011 April 10, Alistair Magowan, “Aston Villa 1-0 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport:
          On this evidence they will certainly face tougher tests, as a depleted Newcastle side seemed to bask in the relative security of being ninth in the table.
    5. Any of various flat surfaces or items with a planar surface.
      Hyponym: water table
      1. A tableland; a flat, elevated region.
      2. (geology) A horizontal stratum of rock.
      3. (anatomy) A flat length of bone.
        1. The inner and outer plates that make up the cranium bones; the outer table and the inner table (vitreous table).
      4. (equestrianism) A wide, flat obstacle for a horse to jump over.
      5. (architecture) A stringcourse; a band of horizontal molding or other decoration around a building.
      6. (music) The top of a stringed instrument, particularly a member of the violin family: the side of the instrument against which the strings vibrate.
      7. (jewelry) The flat topmost facet of a cut diamond.
      8. A flat gravestone supported on pillars.
      9. (palmistry) The quadrangle, a space between the heart line and head line.
      10. (obsolete, biblical) A writing tablet.
      11. (printing) A flat surface that supports the slab on which ink is rolled to manipulate its consistency.

    Hyponyms

    furniture
    geology
    two-dimensional enlisting

    Coordinate terms

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    • → Assamese: টেবুল (tebul)
    • → Bengali: টেবিল (ṭebil)
    • → Gujarati: ટેબલ (ṭebal)
    • → Japanese: テーブル (tēburu)
    • → Korean: 테이블 (teibeul)
    • → Māori: tēpu
    • → Mokilese: sehpil
    • → Nepali: टेबुल (ṭebul)
    • → Odia: ଟେବଲ୍ (ṭebal)
    • → Sylheti: ꠐꠦꠛꠥꠟ (ṭebul)
    • → Telugu: టేబులు (ṭēbulu)

    Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    References

    Verb

    table (third-person singular simple present tables, present participle tabling, simple past and past participle tabled)

    2. To tabulate; to put into a table or grid. [from 15th c.]
      to table fines
    4. (now rare) To supply (a guest, client etc.) with food at a table; to feed. [from 15th c.]
      • 'April 13 1638, Henry Wotton, letter to John Milton
        At Siena I was tabled in the house of one Alberto Scipioni
    6. (obsolete) To delineate; to represent, as in a picture; to depict. [17th–19th c.]
    8. (non-US) To put on the table of a commission or legislative assembly; to propose for formal discussion or consideration, to put on the agenda. [from 17th c.]
      Synonyms: moot, propose
      • 2019 January 16, Heather Stewart, Daniel Boffey, The Guardian:
        In a raucous Commons, the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, confirmed he had tabled a formal motion of confidence in the government, backed by other opposition leaders, which MPs would vote on on Wednesday.
    10. (chiefly US) To remove from the agenda, to postpone dealing with; to shelve (to indefinitely postpone consideration or discussion of something). [from 19th c.]
      The legislature tabled the amendment, so they will not be discussing it until later.
      The motion was tabled, ensuring that it would not be taken up until a later date.
    11. (metonymic) To represent a company or organization (at an exposition, fair, etc.), usually at a booth or display.
    13. (carpentry, obsolete) To join (pieces of timber) together using coaks. [18th–19th c.]
    15. To put on a table. [from 19th c.]
      • 1833 Thomas Carlyle, letter to his Mother, The Correspondence of Thomas Carlyle and Ralph Waldo Emerson
        [A]fter some clatter offered us a rent of five pounds for the right to shoot here, and even tabled the cash that moment, and would not pocket it again.
    16. (poker, colloquial) To show one's cards face-up, especially during showdown.
    18. (nautical) To make board hems in the skirts and bottoms of (sails) in order to strengthen them in the part attached to the bolt-rope.

    Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    See also

    References

    Anagrams

    French

    Pronunciation

    Etymology 1

    Inherited from Old French table, from Latin tabula (“tablet”). Doublet of tôle and taule.

    Noun

    table f (plural tables)

    1. (countable) table (furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses)
      Pourquoi as-tu laissé ces livres sur la table ?
      Why did you leave these books on the table?
    2. flat surface atop various objects
    3. flat part of a cut or carved object
    4. (music) table of a stringed instrument
    5. matrix or grid of data arranged in rows and columns
    6. systematic list of content
    Derived terms
    Descendants

    Etymology 2

    From the verb tabler.

    Verb

    table

    1. inflection of tabler:
      1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
      2. second-person singular imperative

    Further reading

    Anagrams

    Hawaiian Creole

    Etymology

    Derived from English table.

    Noun

    table

    1. (countable) table (furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses)
      • 2000, “Matthew 15”, in Joseph Grimes, transl., Da Jesus Book: Hawaii Pidgin New Testament‎[1], Wycliffe Bible Translators, →ISBN, page 47:
        She say, “Dass right, Boss. But eh, even da dogs unda da table eat wat fall down from da table, yeah?”
        “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs can eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table,” she replied.

    Middle English

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

    From a combination of Old French table and Old English tabele, tabul, tablu, tabule, tabula, both from Latin tabula.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈtaːbəl/, /ˈtaːblə/

    Noun

    table (plural tables or (early) tablen)

    1. (countable) table (furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses)
      1. The top of a table (flat surface of a table for use)
      2. (figurative) A location where one's soul is nourished.
      3. (figurative) A serving or portion of food.
    2. A level writing surface:
      1. A tablet, especially a portable writing tablet.
      2. An inscribed memorial, dedication, or other message; a sign or monument.
      3. (biblical) The physical Ten Commandments handed down from heaven.
    3. Any (relatively) level surface:
      1. A wooden pole or board (especially behind an altar).
      2. The board of a board game (often divided in two).
      3. A level, floor or storey (of a building)
      4. Such a surface used for painting.
      5. (rare) A flat piece of arable land.
      6. (rare, palmistry) A portion of the hand surrounded by palm lines.
    4. A glossary or almanac; a reference work or chart of data.
    5. A board game similar to backgammon.
    6. (rare) A flat bone or fused set of bones.

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    • English: table (see there for further descendants)
      Geordie: tyeble
    • Scots: table
    • → Welsh: tabl

    References

    Old French

    Etymology

      From Latin tabula.

      Noun

      table oblique singular, f (oblique plural tables, nominative singular table, nominative plural tables)

      1. (countable) table (furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses)

      Descendants

      See also

      Romanian

      Alternative forms

      Etymology

        Derived from Greek τάβλι (távli).

        Noun

        table f pl (plural only)

        1. plural of tablă
        2. backgammon

        Declension

        plural only indefinite definite
        nominative-accusative table tablele
        genitive-dative table tablelor
        vocative tablelor

        Spanish

        Verb

        table

        1. inflection of tablar:
          1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
          2. third-person singular imperative
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