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tableau

Etymology and origin of the French word tableau

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1280, Adenet le Roi, Cléomadès (tabliau)
Ultimate origin
Latin (tabula)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin tabula
French table
French tableau

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ta.blo/[1]

Forms

tableau m (plural tableaux)[1] Tabliau, tablel (13th–14th centuries), taveliaus (Lille, 1351); tableau from 1538.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French table + -eau, from table and the diminutive suffix.[2][4][5][6] Etymonline traces the suffix to Latin -ellus.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Adenet le Roi's Cléomadès (about 1280) a tabliau is a target for javelin-throwing.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century it was a wooden board for public notices (1351), a writing board for children, and a gold panel bearing images (1328).[2] In 1355 it named a picture painted on a rigid panel, now its main sense; from it came une ombre au tableau “a fly in the ointment” (1667).[2] By extension it is a group of images like a painting (1559, Ronsard), a vivid description in words (1612), a scene in the theatre (1758, Diderot) and a division of an act (1842).[2]

The idea of a board gave a list displayed for consultation, such as tableau d'avancement “promotion list”, a table of data seen at a glance (1783), the blackboard (tableau noir, 1854, George Sand), a switchboard (1890) and the dashboard of a car (1905).[2][3] English took tableau “picturesque description” in the 1690s, and tableau vivant in 1817.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1280 – Tabliau “target”, Adenet le Roi.[2]
  • 1351 – A notice board, at Lille.[2]
  • 1355 – A painting on a panel.[2]
  • 1612 – A description in words.[2]
  • 1667 – Une ombre au tableau.[2]
  • 1783 – A table of data, Louis-Sébastien Mercier.[2]
  • 1854 – Tableau noir, George Sand.[3]
  • 1905 – The dashboard of a car.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A painting, picture: un tableau de Rembrandt.[8][1]
  2. A scene, a sight; a vivid description: brosser le tableau de la situation, une ombre au tableau.[2][8]
  3. (theatre) A tableau, a division of an act, tableau vivant.[2][1]
  4. A board: tableau noir, tableau blanc, a blackboard, whiteboard, tableau d'affichage, notice board.[3][1]
  5. Tableau de bord: a dashboard; an instrument panel.[3][1]
  6. A table, chart: tableau périodique; a list: tableau d'honneur.[1][2]
  7. Tableau de chasse: the game killed in a hunt; figuratively one's conquests.[1]

Word family

  • tableautin
  • table
  • tablette
  • English tableau

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Tableau.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/tableau. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·