taula

Forms

taula f (plural taules)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin tabula (“board, plank; writing tablet”), which in Catalan took the place of mensa (“table”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]}

The same Latin word is Old Occitan taula, French table, Italian tavola, Spanish tabla and Portuguese tábua.^[6][1] The sense “table” is shared with French and Italian;^[7] Spanish and Portuguese kept mesa for the table and their reflex of the Latin word for the board.^[7]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain: de Vaan reconstructs *taþlā- (“board”) and, with a question mark, a form with the instrumental suffix *-dʰlo-.^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The GDLC and Coromines date the word to the origins of the language, with Llull.^[5][2] Already then it meant the dining table: in Blanquerna a burgher sends a cooked peacock to a bishop who has not yet risen from table.^[2] Llull also uses it for a writing tablet and for a table of contents.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Medieval texts used taula for a board or plank and for the deck of a bridge, for a table of figures, for the pieces of the game of tables and for a draw in that game: the Tirant has fer joc taula.^[10] A taula de canvi was a bank, and an inventory of 1523 records a gold chain deposited in the taula of the city of Barcelona.^[10][5] The DCVB lists many trade uses, such as the board on which bread was kneaded and carried to the oven and the planks under a mattress.^[3]

The derivatives are old: entaular (1354), tauló (1390), taulell (1418), tauler and taulat in Llull, and retaule, from rere taula, for the painting behind the altar.^[4]

Timeline

• 13th century – Llull uses taula for the dining table and for a writing tablet.^[2][9]
• 1250–1299 – the earliest records in the CICA corpus.^[11]
• 1354 – first record of the derivative entaular.^[4]
• 1460 – the Tirant lo Blanch has joc taula, a draw.^[10]
• 1523 – an inventory mentions the taula of Barcelona, the city bank.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A table, a piece of furniture with a flat top on legs, used for eating, writing, working or playing.^[12][5][1]
2. The dining table; the food served at it.^[12][5]
3. A board or plank, a flat piece of wood or other hard material.^[3][1]
4. A table of data arranged in rows and columns.^[5][1][10]
5. (historical) An office for deposits and payments; a bank.^[5][10]
6. (in the plural) A draw in chess or draughts; the boards of a stage.^[1][10]
7. (archaeology) A T-shaped prehistoric monument of Menorca.^[1]

Word family

• entaular
• retaule
• taulada
• taulat
• taulell
• tauler
• tauleta
• tauló
• sobretaula

Related words

• Latin tabula
• Spanish tabla
• French table

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 8, 349
3. ^ a b c Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. taula
4. ^ a b c Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 882
5. ^ a b c d e f g Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. taula
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8514
7. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 360
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. taula
10. ^ a b c d e f g Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. taula
11. ^ Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. taula
12. ^ a b Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. taula