Rom. Antiq. Pl. tablina. [L. tablīnum, tabulīnum, as in definition, also a floored place in the open air, a picture-gallery, f. tabula TABLE.] An apartment or recess in an ancient Roman house, opening out of the atrium opposite the principal entrance, and containing the family archives, statues, etc.
1828–9. J. Narrien, Arch., in Encycl. Metropol. (1845), V. 292/2. The tablinum, or repository for the archives and records of the family.
1832. Gell, Pompeiana, I. viii. 159. The tablinum itself, so called from being closed with planks.
1862. E. Falkener, Ephesus, etc. II. iv. 259. An œcus succeeded this in the more regularly formed houses, and, like the Tablinum, was sometimes ornamented with two columns.
1890. Athenæum, 23 Aug., 265/2. In the central block [of a Roman villa] are the principal rooms, such as the tabulinum and triclinium.
