tabula Latin · revision 3065

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈta.bʊ.ɫa]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtaː.bu.la]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tabula''' ''f'' (genitive tabulae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The decree on the Bacchanalia spells it ''tabola''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012) De Vaan reconstructs [[itc-pro|*taþlā-|t=board]], perhaps a root *ta- with the instrument suffix *-dʰlo-.^(de Vaan 2008) Southern took the root to be that of “to stand”, so that a board is “what stands”.^(de Vaan 2008) Others connect it with [[taberna]], or derive it from a root meaning “flat”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Compare [[xum|tafle|t=on the board]], the board used to carry the sacrificial fire.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus onwards,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) and Cato prescribes laying something out “on a clean board”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a [[m|en|board]] or plank, as Cicero's fool snatching a plank from a shipwreck.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) A painted panel was a ''tabula picta'' or simply ''tabula'', a painting, and it was also a gaming board, as in Varro and Ovid.^(OLD 2012) It was a notice board and so a list, as of the proscribed, and a tablet of stone or bronze set up as a record, as the tablet on which the chief pontiff posted the year's events.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ It was the wax-covered writing [[m|en|tablet]], as when Plautus' schoolboy breaks his tablet over his tutor's head.^(OLD 2012) In the plural it meant account books, legal deeds and public records.^(OLD 2012) Medieval Latin used it for the common revenue of a chapter of canons, a portable altar and an altar front,^(Niermeyer 1976) and music theory for the bridge of an instrument.^(LmL) It survives as Italian ''tavola'', Spanish ''tabla'' and Portuguese ''tábua''.^(Wiktionary) English ''table'' comes from it through Old French and late Old English, and ''tablet'' through Old French about 1300.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for writing tablets and account books.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 186 BC – The decree on the Bacchanalia spells it ''tabola''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for a board.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it for a gaming board.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for paintings, notice boards and deeds.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1300 – English ''tablet'' is first recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|board]], plank.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A painted panel, painting.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A gaming board.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A notice board; a list.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A tablet (of stone, bronze) with an inscription.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A writing [[m|en|tablet]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(plural)'' Account books; deeds; records.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A map.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A portable altar; an altar front.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tabella]]

+ * [[tablifer]]

+ * [[tabulāris]]

+ * [[tabulārius]]

+ * [[tabulātus]]

+ * [[tabulīnum]]

+ * [[tablīnum]]

+ * [[tabulāmentum]]

+ * [[tabulātim]]

+ * [[tabulātiō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tabulāria]]

+ * [[tabulārium]]

+ * [[tabulātum]]

+ * [[stō]]

+ * [[en|table]]

+ * [[en|tablet]]

+ * [[en|tabulate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes ''axes'' (''asses'') and ''plancae'', rough boards as they come from the saw, from ''tabulae'', boards planed smooth.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}