Parts of a Table – Labeled Diagram From Top to Foot

All 13 parts on the diagram

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The table 6

Tabletop The flat top, in two halves on this table. It can be pulled apart to take a leaf.
Leg A table usually has four. Here each one is joined to two aprons at the top.
Apron (rail) The aprons and legs make the frame the top sits on. Some woodworking books call this part a rail.
Leaf An extra board to make the table longer. Put in between the two halves of the top.
Stretcher Stretchers link the legs low down. This set makes the shape of a letter H seen from above.
Foot The bottom end of a leg. Shaped feet have names of their own, such as the pad foot.

Underneath 3

Corner block It bridges the corner from one apron to the next. With a bolt through it into the leg, the leg can be taken off again.
Extension slides Join the two halves of the top. The halves can then be pulled apart to make room for a leaf.
Tabletop fasteners Hold the top to the aprons but let it move. That is because a wooden top swells and shrinks with the damp in the air. Wooden ones are called buttons.

Drop-leaf and pedestal tables 4

Drop leaf A hinged section of the top. It folds down at the side when it is not needed.
Gate leg A leg on a hinged frame. It swings out from the middle of the table to hold a leaf up.
Rule joint The leaf's hollowed edge fits over the fixed top's rounded edge. That way no gap shows when the leaf is up. A hinge underneath joins the two.
Pedestal One central support in place of four legs. It spreads into feet at the floor.

How this list was compiled: Part names checked on 2026-09-30; a name is kept only when two independent sources use it. (1) Wikipedia, text only: Table (furniture), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_(furniture), and Drop-leaf table, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop-leaf_table (top, legs, feet, stretchers, leaves, drop leaf, hinged legs of a gateleg table, pedestal). (2) Bill Hylton, Illustrated Cabinetmaking (2008), read through the Internet Archive's full-text search, https://archive.org/details/illustratedcabin0000hylt (tabletop, leg-and-apron table, aprons, leaf, extension slides, buttons and tabletop fasteners, corner brace, rule joint, gateleg, pedestal table, pad foot). (3) Tables and Desks, The Art of Woodworking (Time-Life Books, 1994), read the same way, https://archive.org/details/tablesdesks0000unse (tabletop, legs and rails, decorative apron, stretcher, corner block, slides, tabletop fasteners, drop leaf, gate leg, rule joint, pedestal table). (4) What's What, a Visual Glossary of the Physical World (1981), read the same way, https://archive.org/details/whatswhatvisualg0000brag_z6n4 (drop leaf, extension leaf, stretchers, foot, gateleg table). (5) Furniture Construction, a woodworking plans book, read the same way, https://archive.org/details/furnitureconstru0000unse (corner block fitted to the apron of a kitchen table). The three books are in copyright and were read as search snippets, not whole pages. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's product is copied and nothing is traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A plain table is three kinds of part: a top, legs, and the aprons that join them. This drawing names those, the hardware hidden underneath, and the parts of two other tables.

Read the full guide

From the top down

The tabletop is the flat board you eat at; the narrow board across its middle is a leaf. Under the top, a board on edge called the apron runs from leg to leg. Low down, stretchers tie the legs together, and each leg ends in a foot.

Underneath, and two more tables

Turn the table over and you find a corner block across each corner, two extension slides, and small tabletop fasteners inside the frame. The third view has a drop-leaf table, whose raised leaf rests on a gate leg, and a round table on one pedestal.

Apron and rail are two names for the same board; woodworking books use both.
A leaf goes in the middle of the top. A drop leaf is hinged to its side.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a table called?

The flat top is the tabletop. The boards on edge under it are the aprons, and they join the legs. Rails low down between the legs are stretchers, and the bottom end of a leg is its foot.

What is the board under a table top called?

The apron. It runs on edge from one leg to the next, and the aprons and legs together make the frame the top is fastened to. Some woodworking books call it a rail.

What is the extra piece in the middle of a table called?

A leaf. The two halves of the top pull apart on extension slides and the leaf drops in between them to make the table longer.

What is the difference between a drop-leaf and a gateleg table?

A drop-leaf table has a fixed middle and a hinged leaf at the side that folds down. If legs swing out from the middle to hold the leaf up, it is a gateleg table.