tabulate

American  

[tab-yuh-layt, tab-yuh-lit, -layt] / ˈtæb jəˌleɪt, ˈtæb jə lɪt, -ˌleɪt /

verb (used with object)

• tabulates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• tabulated,
  past participle,  past
• tabulating
  present participle

1. to put or arrange in a tabular, systematic, or condensed form; formulate tabularly.

   Synonyms:

   classify, group, sort, rank, order

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verb (used without object)

• tabulates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• tabulated,
  past participle,  past
• tabulating
  present participle

1. to operate the tab key on a typewriter; to tab.

adjective

1. shaped like a table or tablet; tabular.

2. having transverse septae, as certain corals.

tabulate British  

verb

1. Also: tabularize. to set out, arrange, or write in tabular form

2. to form or cut with a flat surface

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adjective

1. having a flat surface

2. (of certain corals) having transverse skeletal plates

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pretabulation
  noun
• tabulation
  noun
• pretabulate
  verb (used with object)
• retabulate
  verb (used with object)
• nontabulated
  adjective
• tabulable
  adjective
• untabulable
  adjective
• untabulated
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• tabulating
  present
• tabulated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• tabulate
  simple
• tabulates
  simple
• have tabulated
  perfect
• has tabulated
  perfect
• am tabulating
  progressive
• are tabulating
  progressive
• is tabulating
  progressive
• have been tabulating
  perfect progressive
• has been tabulating
  perfect progressive

Past

• tabulated
  simple
• had tabulated
  perfect
• was tabulating
  progressive
• were tabulating
  progressive
• had been tabulating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will tabulate
  simple
• will have tabulated
  perfect
• will be tabulating
  progressive
• will have been tabulating
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of tabulate

1590–1600; (adj.) < Late Latin tabulātus, past participle of tabulāre to fit with planks, floor; table, -ate ¹; (v.) < Latin tabul ( a ), for table + -ate ¹

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Explanation

To tabulate information is to organize it into a table. If your friend borrows money from you every week, you might want to tabulate what she owes you. Tabulating is a way of processing information or data by putting it in a table. This doesn't mean the kind of table you eat off of, though. It refers to a table, or chart, with rows and columns. When tabulating, you might have to make calculations. Someone who enjoys tabulating financial information might make a good accountant.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tabulate tabulates tabulated tabulating

Small businesses will be able to tabulate their taxes and check their eligibility for government-support programs, and parents will receive suggested educational content for their children.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

They tabulate all the numbers given by various sources including the police, local officials and disaster relief agencies.

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026

The machines can tabulate 8,000 ballots per hour.

From Seattle Times ● May 22, 2024

It has 20 scanners to tabulate ballots, all of which will be running on election night.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2024

I was in the midst of writing a novel and he was calling me from it to tabulate the price of groceries.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

The machine then makes corresponding marks on a paper ballot, which is printed out and run through a ballot scanner, which tabulates the vote.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 8, 2023

This tabulates into a lot of scripts passing through the program, many of which have gone on to national and international acclaim.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2022

Here, the media actually assembles the results from 50 states, tabulates them and declares a victor.

From New York Times ● Aug. 2, 2020

Michael Lanza, a spokesman for the New York City Health Department, said every deceased person with a lab-confirmed covid-19 diagnosis is being counted in the fatality numbers the city tabulates.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 9, 2020

It records, tabulates and co-ordinates statistics of agricultural production, distribution and consumption, and issues monthly and annual crop reports for the information of producers and consumers.

From The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg

By the time all votes were tabulated two weeks after election day, Bass had come out on top, with 43% of the vote compared with Caruso’s 36%.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026

Nearly a third of YouTube’s revenue now comes from its subscription products, while advertising on its free platform generated over $40 billion in revenue last year, MoffettNathanson tabulated.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 9, 2026

Tatiana Edwards, who teaches special-education math at Sierra Sands’ China Lake Junior High School, said she hasn’t tabulated the improvement in grades yet but has noticed students performing better.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 27, 2025

However, the chart and the figures circulating online were based on preliminary vote totals, which continue to go up as final results are still being tabulated.

From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2024

I gritted my teeth as the daily value of pork chops was tabulated, longing to be at home with my writing.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

In 2008, when Sallie Mae first started tabulating costs, institutions like NYU and Harvard were charging upward of $50,000 on their brochures, while public schools and two-year programs were charging proportionally less.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

As a physician, my focus is roped tightly around a very narrow notion of healing: I follow a blueprint of tabulating signs and symptoms, rendering diagnoses, and setting forth treatments.

From Salon ● Jun. 4, 2024

The citizen initiatives in South Dakota to prohibit tabulating machines are set to appear on Tuesday’s primary ballot in Gregory, Haakon and Tripp counties.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 1, 2024

Upon tabulating the scores, the researchers found that sentiments around air taxis are generally positive among the participants.

From Science Daily ● May 28, 2024

He remembered exactly how he had felt sitting there—listening, making notes, appreciating everything, tabulating every scrap of evidence that told against the prisoner.

From "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie

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