Etymograph

English

tabula

Tabula comes from Latin tabula ‘board or plank’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *taðlā.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*taðlā1‘board’reconstructedearlier origin unknown
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtabula2‘board or plank’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1850tabula2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin tabula
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English tabula
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1850, Moses Margoliouth, A Pilgrimage to the Land of My Fathers - Volume 1: “However, as Ugolinus is known as an industrious, honourable…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*taðlāWiktionary, Latin tabula‘board’reconstructedearlier origin unknown
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtabulaWiktionary, English tabula‘board or plank’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1850tabulaWiktionary, English tabula. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1850, Moses Margoliouth, A Pilgrimage to the Land of My Fathers - Volume 1: “However, as Ugolinus is known as an industrious, honourable…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *taðlā ‘board’

tablet, 15 more

through Latin tabula ‘board or plank’

table, tablature, 16 more

Today it means

noun A plate or frame on which a title or inscription is carved.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tabula”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin tabula. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *taðlā / tabula

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