The table is a meeting place for family, exchanging thoughts and ideas, and it is also a meeting place for war, where military leaders exchanging ideas and war plans.

Dear @Mahfuz, good point of binary value of the table during professional meetings.

Dear @Ahed, I agree we can get energy from being around the table.

Dear @Beata, hearing the word of table reminds me of 2 things negotiations and the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper_%28Leonardo_da_Vinci%29

Dear Abedallah, yes indeed. Table has key meaning in sacrum domain in our cultures as well as in art works. Your exemple is excellent dear Abedallah, also in the context the real meaning of the Last Supper. I agree also, that table is place to negotiations.

Why table can be an important artifact at home?

It gives balance and life to the room while it serves its utility

Dining table gathers the family during meal time, where the usual family atmosphere is manifested

Other tables facilitate entertaining visitors or performing work

What role does the table in your culture and individual lives?

The table primarily facilitates our culture of being together, sharing, exchanging ideas, and family traditions

How to change the habits and rituals of the table in your families?

There is no need to change the habits and rituals of the table because the changes in our lives (and culture) brought about by the passing of time and the changes in the environment are naturally passed on as changes in the table artmosphere

Are there other artifacts więziotwórcze, in homes?

What's on our tables today?

This morning my family was around the table. On top of it were watermelon, banana and grapes, chocolate milk/coffee, water, bread, fried pork, and some rice.

This lunch, the table was lonely, my family lunched separately.

Tonight, I foresee some fruits, some rice, some, some fish stew, and water.

What rituals and rules we participate in during breakfasts, lunches, dinners ?

Prayer, sharing experiences, ideas, and news.

Thanks for interesting views. May I add just 2 things:

'Round table conference' implies friendly democratic meetings and discussions.

And in ancient Chinese societies, the head of family sits at the position of authority at the table, that faces the doorway, to be always alert and see what is happening, and whether the next course of food is going to be brought in :)

Dear All, I will be back with broader comments in the evening, because of urgent professional duties.

Dear Beata

Thanks for this extremely interesting question. To me table is far more than a mere piece of furniture. Of course, This is one thing that remains with me for the maximum time than anything else. For, I am mostly working at office or home.

But more important than that, it is a facilitator of discourse on different topics with my loved one friends on holidays where we gather. Three or four of us sit around and use it for resting our elbows while we are making our points. Sometime, we even bang it to show the higher intensity in our point of view.

To me table is not a furniture alone, it is one display unit and a puzzle for others... I keep a lot of things on it and use it for activities of my Hands....

A table is a shared space much more than the room it my be situated in. People can occupy the same room but be oblivious of one another. When seated round a table there is a much more shared experience.

Who invented the table, and why was it initially invented?

now a days most of our family members are working they don't have time to speak other the only time they have to speak is dinner time so tables have more important for family happiness not only in family even science also give more important to table like periodic table log table etc..

Dear @Beata, there is no HOME without TABLE. Family gather around the table every day, as You have mentioned, for different reasons and occasions. In Serbian history, many decisions were brought within family table.

The very special Serbian SLAVA is celebrating around the table! Follow the link.

http://www.rodoslovlje.com/documentation/slava-patron-saint-family

My contribution is confined to the dining table.

The dining table, in our daily life, has been a place for, e.g., learning, transactions or business, projects and solving problems.

I have learnt from my parents various kinds of etiquette (protocol or good manners) such as waiting for all to gather, not to begin eating before the elders or before the host calls upon guests to start, not to begin before all the dishes are distributed to all around the table, and to restrict eating on what is placed in front of me. Also, it is impolite & unhealthy to be gluttonous eating a huge amount of food (even if it is delicious).

When persons meet around a dining table for transactions or business or for projects or for solving problems, then it is improper to place the keys, bags, mobile phones…etc. on that table.

The subjects to be dealt with, at a dining table, ought not to be approached in an aggressive manner.

When some one invites me for a meal, I do not like it if he/she keeps looking on the mobile or the watch since this indicates that I am requested to leave fast.

I feel gratified when the host accompanies me to the door upon leaving.

I believe that when I am invited, then I must reciprocate & I like to be more of a host than a guest.

There have been many sweet memories to cherish from the dining table and it is difficult for me to count them.

Tables or rather built in structures that probably functioned as a table have been found in the Neolithic village of Çatalhöyük in Turkey. Çatalhöyük dates back to around 9,500 years ago and is at a level of sophistication to suggest that even earlier settlements may be as yet undiscovered including possible mesolithic and palaeolithic examples.

The Skara Brae neolithic site on the Orkney Islands is around 5000 years old and has similar table like structures as well as built in beds and cupboards. From the Egyptian early kingdom right through the classical period tables were common.

That the table is a universal object in all early cultures indicates its human significance. The table was not so much invented as evolved with those who used it.

Dear @Beata, our mothers prepared food at the tables! As we were kids, it was nice to hold mama's knee waiting for the peace of food!

Food is tradition in Serbia, everything happens at the table!

http://www.panacomp.net/serbia?s=srpska_kuhinja

Dear friends: do you remember King Arthur and his knights of the round table?

Here is some info from Wikipedia.

'The Round Table is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his Knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status.'

History of round table (@Marcel and friends): 'The table was first described in 1155 by Wace, who relied on previous depictions of Arthur's fabulous retinue. The symbolism of the Round Table developed over time; by the close of the 12th century it had come to represent the chivalric order associated with Arthur's court, the Knights of the Round Table.'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_Table

True, Kamal. But I think that the first break has been caused by roll-out of TV. From what I remember from childhood, it was possible to sit around the table and listen to radio, play games together, read or to do other things. Roll-out of TVs rearranged families' positions from around the table to more or less single line, because it was necessary to look only in one direction.

With regard to table issue, it might be related to chair issue. In the past table without chairs and chairs without table were generally senseless. But it seems that modern light and manageable devices start to eliminate the purpose of tables.

Another question might be what was soones table or chair?

I agree with @ Kamal, Everyone eats seeing the TV / system and not whats in the plate.....No one looks at each other, only side way glances....

@Krishnan, thats true. It also blocks any family chatting effectively, because at least one member of family is really watching and others dont want to disturb him/her.

What I have noticed afew years ago is, that TV programmes are designed to exploit ability of human eye to react primarily on movements even if movement is caught by peripheral vision. Thats, I think, the real reason behind all these colorful effects, laser shows etc. Changing the pattern of sound is another issue (shouting, whistling, explosion of laugh - often quite senseless).

@Miranda: TY for the hint. I was always interested about the size of old Artie's table, but always forgetting to calculate it. Now, WIKI identifies 55 knights by names. If I take 0.6 m per knight (or 0.8 to make them comfy) the table had to have diameter of 10.5 m (or 14 m in the latter case).

Thanks, Tomy and friends.

@Tomy, you ask: 'Another question might be what was sooner table or chair?' OK, I believe it was a LOW TABLE. I think that in biblical times, they reclined, and food was placed on a low table in the middle. That's why Jesus went around to wash the feet of the disciples.

Dear Prof Kamal, I think if parents will take the trouble to enforce discipline those non-communication problems can be solved. But it needs consistent discipline, and never giving up on the children. So parenting isn't easy.

Dear Beata, I agree with the above contributions that table was a part of many culture but not for all. In Indian culture the role of table in a family/ home would be to keep something on it says... TV, Radio, Books etc. As the lifestyle or culture change it start having different role like many explained above. Now almost 60% of Indian family might used table for dinning, still another 40% didn't adapt others culture for dinning.

Thanks for sharing this meaningful question.

Before coming accross this question, I never thought how a table plays an important role in our lives. It is a place for sharing, problem solving, family gathering, decision making etc.

I totally agree with Dr. Kamal that the values and the spirit of sharing and exchange has greatly declined.

I believe the act of sitting down at the table is nowadays associated with several of our activities. Eating, talking, drinking with friends, study, write and even think.

I give you a visual reference for another great visualization of a table: see Sommernatt, Summer Nigth, by Harald Sohlberg, at NasjonalMuseet. So you have a polish and norvegian summer table, the second one at nigth :) I am thinking also to a table for games: usually, to play a board game or chess, you need a table...

What about a nice picnic without a table? Just sitting on the ground enjoying nature and listening to the birds singing and etc....

The table as a place of ingathering for the family has something holy about it. I wonder if the table owes its traditional stature to the altar. The Romans had numerous household gods, Lares and Penates, and there must have been reduced offerings to the gods in the home. Today the altar occupies a frontal place in churches and synagogues to hold holy books from which the officiating elder reads. There is a short distance between altar and meal-time table. Think of the Passover Seder, which commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from the Egyptians, and juxtapose the Easter meal, recreating the Last Supper, which is the Christianization of the Seder.

Dear All, I am delighted with your brilliant comments and your insightful observations.

I see a lot of things connecting our tables all over the world, in different cultures. I notice in how many issues and contexts of our activities table is present at our homes.

You shared in comments many interesting contexts for ex.: historical - @Abedallah, @Miranda, @Barry @Nelson as well as features and functions of our tables - @Mahfuz, @Eddie, @Shafig, @Alexandro, @Miranda and a lot of different things that can be placed on it, as mentioned by - @Nizar and @Eddie.

@Ahed said about getting energy while sitting by the table.

@Tomy indicated beginning of the process of changing routines and rituals around the Czech table - I agree with his observation noticing similarities around Polish tables too.

About routines and rituals said also @Krishnan and @Nizar and @Kamal

@Ljubomir reminded us of important persons who arranged dishes and table - our mothers.

@Debi emphasized social aspects of the table - togetherness with loved ones and friends. Very interesting are all the comments.

A many of us have agreed with reflection made by @Kamal, that climate of our tables is somehow missing in contemporary times, because of technology.

We tend to eat by computers, not with the families. This is also something what is connecting us, around the world.

@Nizar made good narrative about his preferred rules and etiquette at the table - without mobiles. I agree also.

@Marcel and @Ratan said about the other types of dining - without tables, for ex. as picnic in garden, which are also possible.

Dear @All, thank you very much for brilliant contributions.

I think it would be interesting to speak about our routines (daily activities, as arranging or cleaning table etc.) and rituals (which have deeper meaning and are present while sharing in symbolic way our belongings to the family, group culture) around the table. What do you think ?

Dear Ahed, very interesting collection and different functions. I agree wireless technology and table form our current lives.

I have two tables at home. One in the kitchen and one wooden (185 x 100cm) in the living room, where I prefer to work, meet with family and friends.

Dear Beata, I´m following, but I need time to build my meaning.

Regards

Dear Prof Kamal, Pardis and friends,

Prof K, you will need the table to break fast :)

I wish all Muslim friends a Healthy Ramadhan of Fasting. May the self-exerted discipline be good for the soul and body. Happy fasting. Most of the time, I eat 2 meals a day and it's enough :)

Prof Ljubomir, does your sarma belong to Serbia only? It looks everyone is eating it :)

I agree brain is like a table, it has more space in the TOP, to keep adding till it touches the ceiling, The space below the bottom of the table may be limited but still, has the content for quick search and use... well said @ Kamal for the analogy you brought in...

Dear @Kamal, this is very creative thought about having table in brain - I like it.

Dear @Miranda, thank you for nice image and reminding us about Ramadhan of Fasting, which our friends are having since today until 27th July. Maybe we should comment about the food, after sunset ? What do you think ? Would it be fair enough ?

Dear Beata, the fasting month, Ramadhan, begins tomorrow. Today is the last day of Syaaban. Many of my friends have been trained to fast from 6 years, although some started at 10 years. They never mind at all that others eat while they fast. My boys can still play football and rugby (friendly matches), until the Azan is heard from the mosque :)

Dear All, Speaking of routines and rituals around my table I have such routines, before starting a new writing (chapter or paper).

Regularly I'm making the space of my (185x100cm) table total empty and clean from the potential dust. Than I put on it my laptop and write. I prefer to have lot of books around me lying on chairs, floor while writing, but on the wooden table I only have notebook and the lamp. This emptiness in the nearest space gives me fresh feelings, thoughts and make me lose my (psychological if any) blockages in thinking of the text I write.

What are your routines and maybe rituals in the contexts your tables ?

Dear Beata,

You have said all that somebody wants too say. For this reason I would like to add another meaning of "table". in Modern Greek the word Trapeza (Τράπεζα) means both a table (in formal language) and a bank (in everyday speech). [The everyday word used for "table" is trapezi ("τραπέζι"), a modern form of the archaic trapeza (τράπεζα)]. So table is in our lives with many ways!

Dear Beata,

Table is the place for creation of ideas, drawings, plans and researches, in addition to the creation of love by family gathering.

Dear Kamal, nice observation - we are around the RG professional table speaking, exchanging ideas, knowledge, experiences and enjoying our company.

Dear All, I share today beautiful Asian concept of the wedding table. Wedding tables have a special functions in our lives rituals, world wide. These express some unique qualities and promises. I think the wedding tables, in general, are most optimistic in their characters. The flowers are amazing as well as colors and arrangement in the garden scenery,

(source: http://asianweddingideas.blogspot.com/2012/01/jewel-tone-color-table-setting-wedding.html )

I have no kitchen table in my place. In a family of one it is a TV tray. I have a camp table under my bed that I can get out for picnics or guests. We used to table for the food. there was not enough room for all the kids and men. Usually us women sat at the table after the kids and men were served but we used TV trays in the living room.I was born on a air force base. I inherited the wandering restlessness of my father. I have light weight student gypsy furniture. I have lived like this ever since I was a Vista volunteer. I gave away 24 loads of stuff when I moved from Nm back to Oregon. the heavy furniture like a big table the first things I get rid of. the heaviest thing I own is my office chair. I move so much I cannot even bribe my friends to help me. I have even resorted to Craigslist ads or picking up a homeless person holding a sign: Will work for food to get help. Now my possessions are down to me being able to get them in three trips in my station wagon.

When I was a anthropologists on the Navajo reservation, same thing. We would take all the furniture out and there might be a small table to set the food on and sometimes the kids sat there and sometimes the women. If it was a big gathering the floors were swept and a clean blanket was put on the ground.

This was true of teepee meetings. The women not at the ceremonies who cooked would bring the food to the guests from the kitchen. feasting went on outside on a picnic table after the ceremony or wedding etc. In Zuni the dancers would go house to house singing prayers to bless the whole village. We would have a fire outside and leave food for the hungry spirits or ancestors. sometimes we would have a separate table for the children. My kitchen table is a camp table that folds up. Even my desk I am texting on here is a fancy fold up modern version of a TV tray.

My friends from when I worked as an artist for the theatre have elaborate dinner party's. They are very formal and elaborate. They love to cook and entertain. Me not so much. I am alone working on my book in a one room studio office, with a little table next to my computer and smart TV. Or I am eating a meal at a vanish point in my car on the mountain or at the beach or river or lake or on the picnic table. I put an offering away from the picnic tables because the bugs and beasts and spirits prefer their own plate.

I once went to a romantic restaurant alone. When I said table of one, they always ask twice. I was bothered that they took the other dish away. I wanted to tell them to leave it because I was having dinner with the memory of my late husband but could not find the words to express that. On anniversaries I hold my husbands traditions to honor his memory, following the traditions of the Day of the Dead. It is a table full of objects of remembering and pictures. Food and drink is left there as well with a candle being burned.

Dear @Bonita, thank you for broad and very interesting description. I like your illustration of the restaurant rules. It is really kind of unpleasant routine, when the waiters taking the other dish away, asking only pro forma. I understand your confusion, knowing that such pragmatic restaurants' approach to the guests, happens in Poland too. They probably should consider cultural rules as The Day of the Dead, as a special and spiritual time for families.

Dear @All, this week since Monday to Friday I'll participate in faculty diploma exams committees. Will be able to comment on RG in the evenings.

The Stammtisch is a 'regular's table' in a pub and is the informal meeting place of clubs and societies. The table is usually marked out or reserved by a flag or insignia and a mixture of social and club/society related conversation will take place over drinks and maybe food. The tradition is very old and can be found not only in Germany but in many other countries in one form or another.

In England the meetings usually took place in a separate room in a pub which could be booked regularly for clubs interested in a whole range of subjects such as photography, chess, art and we now have science discussion meetings in pubs organised by my university.

These traditions represent the table as meeting place or common space of the society. The table, even when it is a room is the platform on which ideas are had and explained to others.

While the vast majority of the groups that meet at the Stammtisch are friendly and wholesome in political history this tradition has often has a dark underside. In the UK many conspiracies have been concocted around the table in the back room of a smoky pub!

Dear @Barry, I like your cultural description of explicite and tacit functions of Stammtisch. Very interesting binary meanings. You wrote it well, that I can easily imagine the climates.Thank you.

Every March 19, the feast of St. Joseph, Puglia, a region of South Italy, is lit with numerous bonfire devotional memory of ancient customs and traditions revived today by communities in an atmosphere of celebration and joy.

The bonfire has traditionally been part of a ritual of purification and consecration. Wild pagan rites, had the significance of celebrating the arrival of spring and the invocation of a good year for harvesting in the fields.

On these grounds was subsequently engaged the religious feast of St. Joseph on March 19.

The boards have a symbolic meaning and are held in the homes and in the streets of the towns.

Dear @Beata, typical Christmas table in Serbia is given. Fully traditional!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_Christmas_traditions

Dear friends, here is a Chinese dinner. A lot of emphasis is on respect and care for our old folks. We aren't allowed to call people by first names. Each older person must be addressed with his/ her appropriate title :)

Dear Prof Kamal and friends, we also invite good friends like church friends and dear neighbors. Nowadays, many of us have close relatives in other countries who can't afford to return for the festive seasons, so we open our homes to good friends. Usually there are around 10 persons at least :)

Dear @Ierardi, @Ljubomir, @Miranda and @Kamal, thank you for sharing your nice images a thoughts about the family and Christmas tables, while I was sitting behind exams table since Monday. Both amazing and warm in different ways.

So now I have only three days of exams to "survive" around the Master's, Bachelor's exams tables. Below I share image of own desk at my room No 104., at the faculty, as a variation of the table.

Dear Beata, it's a bit like my work table :) And you have a lovely garden scene and fresh air, in spring and summer at least. You will survive :)

Look out for my Q...

Dear @Miranda and @Kamal, yes there is nice view on trees and Economy Faculty, and not much items. Below another impression of professional table, after espresso. My inspiration as a ground of "items collections" is Rene Magritte

Dear Beata and friends, sorry, I forgot to tell you that furniture is one of our exports.  All kinds of creative tables, tables for 2, tables for 6, for 10 are produced.

See this link: http://www.vmy2014.com/see-and-do/events-and-festivals/other-events-and-festivals/malaysian-international-furniture-fair-2014-miff

Dear Miranda, I like nice idea of flexible furniture on picture you shared. Thank you.

That is good point, flexibility of furniture, tables for example. Please, have a look! :) It is table with many "faces"!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx8liLfbiNs

Dear friends, have you ever seen furniture that's made in Malaysia sold in Europe?  Perhaps not.  One of the industries in my hometown is furniture, another one is men and women's shoes, that's why there are many factories in Serdang, third is Beryl's chocolate.  Another thing we are known for is the presence of Putra University, where I studied, and where Pardis is presently attached.

See this link on: The 9th Export Furniture Exhibition Malaysia (EFE)...

http://myevents.my/v1/index.php?eID=1424

Thanks a lot my dear @Miranda! EFE seems to be a good exibition! Regards to all PUTRA University friends! :)

Dear Prof Shafig, Kamal, Ljubomir and friends, thank you.  I need to help my country in a time when our economic growth is slow, it's about 5 % compared with 8 % previously.  I think innovation may be the best thing we can do.  (Thanks for not thinking poorly of me and my country :))

I think our friends did not consider how much serious is the Greek word for table-trapeza=banks! Today it seems that banks play a crucial role. They can make a lot of countries to starve and concentrate the money to a small group!

Dear All, thank you kindly for your valuable contributions. It's 4th of July, I have survived entire week around the exams tables of Bachelor's and Master's exams. Now it is the right time enjoy freedom and calmness.

Congrats dear Beata.  I know you will survive.  I'm having a busy time, working on my 'Conclusions' for a paper, to refine it, make it short and 'efficient'.  (So I need to turn off my internet device after this.  Have a good day; it's 2045 h here.)

"Not with whom you are born, but with whom you are bred"M.de Cervantes."Don Quixote"Dear Beata, it will be interesting to research etymology of this word from the point of view of different languages.I think, our peers will do it with pleasure.

From the Old Slavonic it means "throne, place, tablecloth, to set": "capital"has this root as the main city of the state.I like Russian poet G.R.Derzhavin (his portrait is by V.Borovikovsky)and his famous verses, "Where once a feast was spread (originally, "a table was"), a coffin lies".In other words, a very thin dividing line is between life and death, joy and tragedy, success and failure. A human being should appreciate this celebration of life.   

Dear Irina and friends, thanks for your views.  Irina, you are a great philosopher.  Yes, I agree: There's 'a very thin dividing line is between life and death, joy and tragedy, success and failure. A human being should appreciate this celebration of life'.  

Especially during certain occasions for example child birth, and some forms of surgery, what do you think?

I reject polarities as being just the other side of the same thing. In that sense they are both the same things rather than a line between them.

Many of my meals are in my car on top of the mountains where there is a view. I have a camp table I bring out for guests for a picnic. Yes I have friends who like to cook and have elaborate parties far away from where I live. I am taking a 33 hour train trip for a fancy dinner party for my next birthday with friends I have been separated for 20 years out on the field.

@Irina: This quote might be invaluable contribution to EU DG Health and Food' campaign against unhealthy eating habits, caused by too many heart attacks and other ilnesses around. If I look on its modern version, I think its informational impact beats anything which I have read f.inst. against smoking. A pity I work in different area and Cion's representatives which I am meeting from time to time are from different DGs.

"Where once a feast was spread, a coffin lies".

Dear @All, thank you for being at the table. I'm so much lost in writing two papers before I'll go for holiday travel. I noticed, that your mood moved from birthday table symbols to funeral table, associated with such symbol as coffin, mentioned by @Irina, @Miranda and @Tomy. That's right, we also meet at the funeral tables to remind us our dearests who passed away. I wish you dear  @All, happy events as pretexts for meetings at the tables in July and August.

Dear @All, we know world wide about the crash of Malaysian Boeing 777 being shot down in Ukraine on July 17, and we are now around funeral table. So sad, many innocent people - 298 are dead, including 80 children. World is led by mad people...

Dear Kamal, I just wrote to Miranda on our FB group. I'm very sad because of this horrible tragedy. I wonder what intentions had such shooter ? Airliner is something other than military airplane. This civil war involving Ukraine and Russia is absurd and terrible.

It must be made objective, independent,thoroughgoing crime scene investigation.All the world is exhausted by this mad war.

@ Beata: ANY civil WAR is terrible. Civil war is just worse than regular one, because all generally used warfare rules are pushed aside.

@ Irina: No investigation will return victims to life. And sorry to say that, but the world as the whole isnt exhausted at all. We are used to TV news about conflicts being served us on daily basis. I suppose there are countries in the world, where people dont know the meaning of "peace" for generations.

You are right @Tomy, ANY war is terrible. I agree also that there are parts on the world where people do not know the meaning of "peace". Well said @Tomy.

Dear @Irina, I hope the international committees of experts will do the research.

I think TABLE is an universal cultural artifact present in almost all the places and spaces of our lives, from family level to societal.Many important decisions have been taken on the table

Dear Beata, congrats on the great following of this question.  I remember this question, of course, and I invite you to a related one.  A table surely has great significance in our lives.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/If_it_were_possible_please_list_the_six_people_throughout_history_you_would_like_to_invite_for_dinner/2

Dear @Beata, read this story! Everything important happens around table! "...The key to the mystery came swiftly in the form of a very handsome, very religious Parisian student studying for his master’s degree in Toulouse and learning Talmud with the rabbi of the school where my daughter was teaching. It was not long before he and his lovely parents were sitting around our table in Ramot discussing wedding plans...."

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Consider-This-My-Parisian-family-389395

Common medieval type table used for dining is made with four legs, connected at their feet by sturdy stretchers. Such early dining tables known as “joined tables” were large and massive, and were often furnished with draw-leaves to further increase their capacity.

Tudor times (the 16th century), legs of these dining tables were often formed with large, bulbous turnings, and eventually gave rise to single or double pedestal tables.

http://nydwr.com/all-about-tables-history-types-styles-sizes/

I would like to add to already mentioned uses of table the following types of "table":

The ancient Greek stockbroker-banker, usually do the transactions on a table. The Greek word for table and Bank is “τράπεζα”. Thus Bank comes from “table”!

This meaning of "table" gives an essential part of modern life.

Some other types of tables are:

Table of Contents

Data Tables

Number and mathematical Tables

Statistical tables

Types of tables (Circle=democratic tables, parallelogram, etc)

Periodic table of elements

astronomical data tables

round table conference 


From the above we can see that "table" is an extremely important concept! 

in the UK to 'table a motion' means to place it up for consideration or place it at the centre of attention.  This places the table as the focal point of attention. 

Curiously in US political jargon 'to table a motion' means to send it away or postpone it.  This places the table in the role of an archive or repository.

In both cases it involves the table as a metaphorically important place. 

Adding to the contributions of dear Costas & Barry, The "unusual" table which plays a major role in the life of a chemist is the "Periodic Table" which is an arrangement of elements according to their increasing atomic number (the number of protons in an atom of each element) where similar elements are arranged in columns. Such Table usually includes the symbols of the elements, their mass, their number of protons, and more data.

Just to add another unusual table. It is the "Chart of the Nuclides", a daily used information sheet for my job.

Dear friends, dear @Beata was speaking about table as a peace of furniture! "The table is not just a piece of furniture but a universal cultural artifact present in almost all the places and spaces of our lives, from family level to societal. From the beginning, almost every child learns from the parents about table manners that concerns the background and circumstances of meals.Tables accompany us at works, (during business meetings) recreation (in gardens, restaurants) and in our dining rooms at homes....."

Dear Ljubomir

you are right, just go some pages back. But you must agree, the "refined" tables are also highly interesting. I would be interested to find out or better learn from you, how the connection of furniture table and the extented language use in each case can be explained. I think we need a linguist.

Dear Kamal,

Wellcome back! We really miss you!