Editing Tables game (section)

== Name ==
The word "tables" is derived from the Latin ''tabula'' which primarily meant 'board' or 'plank', but also referred to this genre of game. From its plural form, ''tabulae'', come the names in other languages for this family of games including the Anglo-Saxon ''toefel'', German ''[wurf]zabel'', Greek ''tavli'', Italian ''tavoli'', Scandinavian ''tafl'', Spanish ''tablas'' and, of course, English and French ''tables''. The reason for the plural is twofold: first, that a tables board comprises four separate quadrants which are a feature of the play; and second, that ''tabulae'' also came to refer to the individual pieces – "[[Glossary of tables game terms|tablemen]]" or "men" for short – used in the various games.<ref name=Parlett58>Parlett (1999), p. 58.</ref>