tableland

IPA/ˈteɪbllænd/
IPA/ˈteɪbllænd/

tableland — noun

1. a wide area of high land with a flat surface, similar to a plateau

1.nounB2
Definition

a wide area of high land with a flat surface, similar to a plateau

Example

The train crossed the vast tableland, offering passengers a view of endless flat grassland.

collocation: cross + tableland

Farmers on the tableland grow wheat and barley because the soil is rich and the land is level.

Common collocations
  • vast tableland
  • wide tableland
  • rocky tableland
  • cross a tableland
  • atop a tableland
Synonyms
  • plateau

    the more common everyday term for a large area of high flat land

  • upland

    broader term that can include hilly elevated ground, not necessarily flat

  • mesa

    refers to a smaller, isolated flat-topped hill with steep sides

Antonyms
  • lowland

    area of low, flat land near sea level

  • valley

    low area between hills or mountains

Usage Note

Typically preceded by an article (a/the tableland) or an adjective (vast/rocky tableland). Frequently appears with locative prepositions such as on, atop, or across.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Tableland, plateau, and mesa all describe elevated areas with flat surfaces, but they differ in scale and specificity. Tableland is a general term for any broad, flat-topped highland and is less common in everyday speech. Plateau is the standard, widely used word for a large area of high flat land — for example, the Tibetan Plateau. Mesa refers to a smaller, isolated flat-topped hill with steep sides, typical of the southwestern United States. Upland is the broadest of the three and can describe any area of high ground, including hills. If you want a neutral geographic description, use tableland; for well-known landforms, use plateau; for steep-sided desert formations, use mesa.

plateaumesa ↗upland ↗

Common collocations

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Tableland is formed by combining two English words: 'table' (a flat surface, from Latin tabula via Old French) and 'land'. The name describes land that is as flat as a tabletop. The word has been used in English since the early 1700s.

First known use

1672

1672, in the meaning defined above