tabulae

Noun

tabula (countable and uncountable, plural tabulae or (archaic) tabulæ)

1. A plate or frame on which a title or inscription is carved.
   • The tabula is here seen to have an irregular structure of coarse mesh whose interstices are occupied by a finer mesh.1937, Kyancutta Museum, Memoirs - Issues 4-6, page 103
2. A table, index, or list of data.
   • Another tabula on third fly-leaf, and some writing in a later hand. Titles and initials throughout in red and blue.1908, James Maurice Wilson, Cosmo Alexander Gordon, Early Compotus Rolls of the Priory of Worcester, page 28
3. A legal record.
   • However, as Ugolinus is known as an industrious, honourable man, acquainted with his subject, and who cannot easily be suspected of fraud, there is nothing against assuming the probability that at the publication of his work he had really before him such a tabula.1850, Moses Margoliouth, A Pilgrimage to the Land of My Fathers - Volume 1, page 144
4. A writing-tablet, slate, or similar medium on which to write.
   • On the tabula of the mind she tried to write the word.2010, John Lawton, A Lily of the Field
5. A frontal; a drapery for an altar.
   • Another tabula in the Textile Museum in Washington D.C. probably belonged to the same textile.2004, Sabine Schrenk, Textilien des Mittelmeerraumes aus spätantiker bis tru:hisiamischer Zeit, Abegg-Stiftung, page 470
6. (historical, uncountable) An ancient Roman game similar to backgammon that was played on a board with 24 divisions.
   • Readers may like to make a tabula board and try a simple game from France using two cubic dice.1974, Games & Puzzles - Issues 21-31, page 5

See all 7 meanings of tabula