means A flat-topped piece of furniture standing on legs, used for eating, working, or gathering around — or, by extension, an organized arrangement of information in rows and columns.

from From Latin 'tabula,' meaning a flat board, plank, or writing tablet — the kind Romans scratched notes and laws into. It entered English partly through Old English 'tabule' and was reinforced by Old French 'table,' both tracing back to that same Latin board. The same root gives us 'tablet' and 'tableau,' all sharing the idea of a flat surface where things get set down — whether dinner, data, or decrees.