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table

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "table", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "table" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "table" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

table is aEnglishnoun. It means: Furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses. Pronounced /ˈteɪbl̩/. It ranks #958 in English word frequency. Often confused with Tal and take.

Key facts for table
PropertyValue
Headwordtable
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈteɪbl̩/
Letters5
Frequency rank#958
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of table in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for table is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈteɪbl̩/. Corpus data places it at rank #958 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 20 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for table, with forms such as "atble", "tabble", and "tabel". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Tal", "take", "talk", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English table, tabel, tabil, tabul, from Old English tabele, tabul, tablu, tabule, tabula (“board”); also as tæfl, tæfel, an early Germanic borrowing of Latin tabula (“tablet, board, plank, chart”). The sense of “piece of furniture” is… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is table, spelled T-A-B-L-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses.
  2. 2
    Furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses.
  3. 3
    Furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses.
  4. 4
    Furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses.
  5. 5
    Furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses.
  6. 6
    Furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses.
  7. 7
    Furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses.
  8. 8
    Furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses.
  9. 9
    A group of people at a table, for example, for a meal, meeting or game.
  10. 10
    A group of people at a table, for example, for a meal, meeting or game.
  11. 11
    A group of people at a table, for example, for a meal, meeting or game.
  12. 12
    A group of people at a table, for example, for a meal, meeting or game.
  13. 13
    A two-dimensional presentation of data.
  14. 14
    A two-dimensional presentation of data.
  15. 15
    A two-dimensional presentation of data.
  16. 16
    A two-dimensional presentation of data.
  17. 17
    The top of a stringed instrument, particularly a member of the violin family: the side of the instrument against which the strings vibrate.
  18. 18
    The flat topmost facet of a cut diamond.
  19. 19
    A flat gravestone supported on pillars.
  20. 20
    A writing tablet.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English table, tabel, tabil, tabul, from Old English tabele, tabul, tablu, tabule, tabula (“board”); also as tæfl, tæfel, an early Germanic borrowing of Latin tabula (“tablet, board, plank, chart”). The sense of “piece of furniture” is from Old French table, of same Latin origin; Old English used bēod or bord instead for this meaning: see board. Doublet of tabula and tavla.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: atble,tabble,tabel,tablle,talbe,tbale,tible,ttable

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for table

Misspelling Variants of "table"

atble5tabble6tabel5tablle6talbe5tbale5tible5ttable6
Misspelling Variants of "table"

Frequency rank: #958 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "table"?
"table" is spelled T-A-B-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈteɪbl̩/.
What does "table" mean?
As a noun, "table" means: Furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses.
What words are commonly confused with "table"?
"table" is commonly confused with "Tal", "take", "talk". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "table"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "table" is /ˈteɪbl̩/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "table"?
Inherited from Middle English table, tabel, tabil, tabul, from Old English tabele, tabul, tablu, tabule, tabula (“board”); also as tæfl, tæfel, an early Germanic borrowing of Latin tabula (“tablet, board, plank, chart”). The sense of “piece of fur... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter T in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.