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Meaning & use

tabulation

noun·Academicformal

Last updated

UK/ˌtæbjʊˈleɪʃn/
US/ˌtæbjəˈleɪʃn/

Meanings

  1. noununcountableformal

    The work of arranging facts or numbers into rows and columns so that they are easy to read and compare.

    Grammar: Uncountable when it names the process: the tabulation of votes.

    Patterns

    • the tabulation of something

    The tabulation of the survey results took two days.

    Manual tabulation is slow, so the office uses software.

    Careful tabulation helped the researchers see patterns in the data.

  2. nouncountableformal

    A table or list in which figures or facts have been set out in rows and columns.

    Grammar: Countable: a tabulation of sales figures.

    Patterns

    • a tabulation of something

    The report includes a tabulation of last year's rainfall.

    A tabulation on page five shows each country's exports.

    She printed a tabulation of the scores for the judges.

Word forms

pluraltabulations

Common combinations

tabulation of results
The tabulation of results will be posted tomorrow.
vote tabulation
Vote tabulation began as soon as the polls closed.
manual tabulation
Manual tabulation of the forms took the clerks a week.
automatic tabulation
The spreadsheet allows automatic tabulation of expenses.
tabulation software
Tabulation software counted the survey answers.

Synonyms and how they differ

compilation
Compilation means gathering information from different places, while tabulation specifically sets it out in rows and columns.
tally
Tally is a count or running total, whereas tabulation is an arrangement of data in a table.
listing
A listing puts items one after another, but a tabulation sorts them across columns as well.
cataloging
Cataloging means recording items in an organized list for reference, with no emphasis on columns of figures.

Word family

tabulate verb
to arrange facts or figures in a table
tabular adjective
arranged in rows and columns
tabulator noun
a person or machine that arranges data in tables
table noun
an arrangement of data in rows and columns

Commonly confused: tabulation or calculation?

tabulation vs calculation

Calculation is working out an answer with numbers. Tabulation is laying data out in a table, even if no sums are done.

Practice

The election office finished the ___ of the ballots by midnight and posted the totals.

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