Structure of a prototypical table, resembling a Parsons table design A table is an item of furniture with a flat top and one or more legs, used as a surface for working at or on which to place things.[2] Some common types of table are the dining room table, which is used for seated persons to eat meals; the coffee table, which is a low table used in living rooms to display items or serve refreshments; and the bedside table, which is used to place an alarm clock and a lamp. The term table is derived from a merger of French table and Old English tabele, both ultimately from the Latin word tabula, "a board, plank, flat top piece". In Late Latin, tabula took over the meaning previously reserved to mensa (preserved in Spanish and Portuguese mesa "table"). In Old English, the word was bord, replaced by table for this meaning. Tables come in a wide variety of materials, shapes, and heights dependent upon their origin, style, and intended use. Many tables are made of wood or wood-based products;
some are made of other materials including metal and glass. Most tables are composed of a flat surface and one or more supports (legs). A table with a single, central foot is a pedestal table. Long tables often have extra legs for support. Table tops can be in virtually any shape, although rectangular, square, round (e.g. the round table), and oval tops are the most frequent. Others have higher surfaces for personal use while either standing or sitting on a tall stool. Many tables have tops that can be adjusted to change their height, position, shape, or size, either with foldable, sliding or extensions parts that can alter the shape of the top. Some tables are entirely foldable for easy transportation, e.g. camping. Small tables in trains and aircraft may be fixed or foldable, although they are sometimes considered as simply convenient shelves rather than tables. Tables can be freestanding or designed for placement against a wall. Tables designed to be placed against a wall are known as Pier tables[4] or s (French: console, "support bracket") and may be bracket-mounted (traditionally), like a shelf, or have legs, which sometimes imitate the look of a bracket-mounted table.
A combination of a table with two benches (picnic table) as often seen at camping sites and other outdoor facilities A formally laid table, set with a dinner service Tables of various shapes, heights, and sizes are designed for specific uses: Historically, various types of tables have been popular for other uses: Large 17th-century English folding tables Some very early tables were made and used by the Egyptians, and were little more than stone platforms used to keep objects off the floor. They were not used for seating people. Food and drinks were usually put on large plates deposed on a pedestal for eating. The Egyptians made use of various small tables and elevated playing boards. The Chinese also created very early tables in order to pursue the arts of writing and painting. The Greeks and Romans made more frequent use of tables, notably for eating, although Greek tables were pushed under a bed after use. The Greeks invented a piece of furniture very similar to the guéridon.
Tables were made of marble or wood and metal (typically bronze or silver alloys), sometimes with richly ornate legs. Later, the larger rectangular tables were made of separate platforms and pillars. The Romans also introduced a large, semicircular table to Italy, the mensa lunata. Furniture during the Middle Ages is not as well known as that of earlier or later periods, and most sources show the types used by the nobility. In the Eastern Roman Empire, tables were made of metal or wood, usually with four feet and frequently linked by x-shaped stretchers. Tables for eating were large and often round or semicircular. A combination of a small round table and a lectern seemed very popular as a writing table.[5] In western Europe, the invasions and internecine wars caused most of the knowledge inherited from the classical era to be lost. As a result of the necessary movability, most tables were simple trestle tables, although small round tables made from joinery reappeared during the 15th century and onward.
In the Gothic era, the chest became widespread and was often used as a table. Refectory tables first appeared at least as early as the 17th century, as an advancement of the trestle table; these tables were typically quite long and wide and capable of supporting a sizeable banquet in the great hall or other reception room of a castle. ^ Kenny et al. 2011, p. 236. King Arthur presides at the Round Table. This, the Winchester Round Table, dates to about the time of Edward I The Round Table was a table used by King Arthur and his knights, in the legends about him. The Round Table was in Camelot, the castle where King Arthur and his knights lived. In the legends, they met at the table to talk about the safety of Camelot and the kingdom, and about what adventures and quests they could go on. This got them the name 'The Knights of the Round Table'. The shape of the table was very important. Most tables are rectangular, and have a place called the "head of the table".
This is the narrow part at the top, where the leader usually sits. Because the table was round, it meant that the people who sat around it were all seen as equal. The table is used by King Arthur and his knights. King Arthur's wife, Guinevere, did not have a seat at the table, but King Arthur did take her advice on occasion. In some versions of the legend, the wizard who lived in Camelot, called Merlin, also had a seat at the table. He was seen by King Arthur as a good friend and adviser. Some legends also note a special chair at the Round Table, called the Siege Perilous, or 'Dangerous Chair'. Legend says that the seat could only be used by a knight who had a pure heart. A person with a pure heart was seen as someone who had committed no crimes or done any wrong. In the tale, anyone who sat in the chair but did not have a pure heart would die instantly. It was kept free by Merlin for the person who would one day find an object called the Holy Grail. This was a magical cup that was supposed to have been the one that Jesus drank out of during the Last Supper.