tablecloth

Etymology

From Middle English tabyllcloth, table cloth, tabylle clothe, a partial translation of earlier Middle English bord cloth, bordcloth (“tablecloth”), from Old English bordclāþ, equivalent to table + cloth.

noun

1. A cloth used to cover and protect a table, especially for a dining table.
   Just across the field stood a small house. In the yard the week's washing was hung out. Among the articles was a red tablecloth. 1893, Horatio Alger, Jr., Facing the World