tabor

See also: tábor, Tábor, Tabor, and TABOR

English

illustration by Praetorius

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈteɪbə(ɹ)/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪbə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

From Middle English, from Old French tabour, from Arabic طُنْبُور (ṭunbūr), ultimately from the Middle Persian ancestor of Classical Persian تنبور (tanbūr). Doublet of tambour and tanbur.

Noun

tabor (plural tabors)

1. (music) A small drum.
   1. In traditional music, a small drum played with a single stick, leaving the player's other hand free to play a melody on a three-holed pipe.
      • 1766, Oliver Goldsmith, chapter 4, in The Vicar of Wakefield:

        Being apprized of our approach, the whole neighbourhood came out to meet their minister, drest in their finest cloaths, and preceded by a pipe and tabor […]

Derived terms

• taborist
• taborer

Translations

small drum

• Bulgarian: барабанче n (barabanče)
• Catalan: tabalet (ca) m
• French: tambour (fr)
• Galician: tamboril (gl) m
• Hebrew: תוף תבור m (tof tavor)
• Manx: dollan m
• Russian: ма́ленький бараба́н m (málenʹkij barabán)
• Spanish: tamboril (es) m

Verb

tabor (third-person singular simple present tabors, present participle taboring, simple past and past participle tabored)

1. (transitive) To make (a sound) with a tabor.
2. To strike lightly and frequently.

Etymology 2

From various Slavic languages, from a Turkic language. Compare Ottoman Turkish طابور (tabur).

Noun

tabor (plural tabors)

1. A military train of men and wagons; an encampment of such resources.
   • 2011, Norman Davies, Vanished Kingdoms, Penguin, published 2012, page 269:

     A Polish-Lithuanian tabor besieged by twenty or thirty thousand Tartars must have closely resembled the overland wagon trains of American pioneers attacked by the Sioux or the Cherokee.

Anagrams

• rabot, Bator, Tobar, tobra, abort, Barot, Barto, Torba, boart, ORBAT

Azerbaijani

Etymology

Cognate with Ottoman Turkish طابور.

Noun

tabor (definite accusative taboru, plural taborlar)

1. (military) battalion

   Synonym: batalyon

Declension

Declension of tabor

	singular	plural
nominative	tabor	taborlar
definite accusative	taboru	taborları
dative	tabora	taborlara
locative	taborda	taborlarda
ablative	tabordan	taborlardan
definite genitive	taborun	taborların

Possessive forms of tabor

	nominative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	taborum	taborlarım
sənin (“your”)	taborun	taborların
onun (“his/her/its”)	taboru	taborları
bizim (“our”)	taborumuz	taborlarımız
sizin (“your”)	taborunuz	taborlarınız
onların (“their”)	taboru or taborları	taborları
	accusative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	taborumu	taborlarımı
sənin (“your”)	taborunu	taborlarını
onun (“his/her/its”)	taborunu	taborlarını
bizim (“our”)	taborumuzu	taborlarımızı
sizin (“your”)	taborunuzu	taborlarınızı
onların (“their”)	taborunu or taborlarını	taborlarını
	dative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	taboruma	taborlarıma
sənin (“your”)	taboruna	taborlarına
onun (“his/her/its”)	taboruna	taborlarına
bizim (“our”)	taborumuza	taborlarımıza
sizin (“your”)	taborunuza	taborlarınıza
onların (“their”)	taboruna or taborlarına	taborlarına
	locative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	taborumda	taborlarımda
sənin (“your”)	taborunda	taborlarında
onun (“his/her/its”)	taborunda	taborlarında
bizim (“our”)	taborumuzda	taborlarımızda
sizin (“your”)	taborunuzda	taborlarınızda
onların (“their”)	taborunda or taborlarında	taborlarında
	ablative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	taborumdan	taborlarımdan
sənin (“your”)	taborundan	taborlarından
onun (“his/her/its”)	taborundan	taborlarından
bizim (“our”)	taborumuzdan	taborlarımızdan
sizin (“your”)	taborunuzdan	taborlarınızdan
onların (“their”)	taborundan or taborlarından	taborlarından
	genitive
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	taborumun	taborlarımın
sənin (“your”)	taborunun	taborlarının
onun (“his/her/its”)	taborunun	taborlarının
bizim (“our”)	taborumuzun	taborlarımızın
sizin (“your”)	taborunuzun	taborlarınızın
onların (“their”)	taborunun or taborlarının	taborlarının

Further reading

• “tabor” in Obastan.com.

Old French

Etymology

From Arabic طُنْبُور (ṭunbūr) or Persian طبل (“drum”), related to Armenian տաւիղ (tawiġ), English tabla and tambour.

Noun

tabor oblique singular, m (oblique plural tabors, nominative singular tabors, nominative plural tabor)

1. tambour (drum)

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Czech tábor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈta.bɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -abɔr
• Syllabification: ta‧bor
• Homophone: Tabor

Noun

tabor m inan (diminutive taborek, related adjective taborowy)

1. (uncountable) vehicle fleet
2. (uncountable) rolling stock
3. (countable, historical) nomadic group of Gypsies

   Synonym: szatra

4. (countable, historical, military) wagon fort

Declension

Declension of tabor

	singular	plural
nominative	tabor	tabory
genitive	taboru	taborów
dative	taborowi	taborom
accusative	tabor	tabory
instrumental	taborem	taborami
locative	taborze	taborach
vocative	taborze	tabory

Derived terms

verbs

• taborować impf

Further reading

• “tabor”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[1] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “tabor”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)
• tabor in PWN's encyclopedia

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Hungarian tábor, from Ottoman Turkish طابور (tabur).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tâːbor/

Noun

tȃbor m inan (Cyrillic spelling та̑бор)

1. camp

Declension

Declension of tabor

	singular	plural
nominative	tabor	tabori
genitive	tabora	tabora
dative	taboru	taborima
accusative	tabor	tabore
vocative	tabore	tabori
locative	taboru	taborima
instrumental	taborom	taborima

Further reading

• “tabor”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Turkish tabur (“squadron, battalion”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /taˈboɾ/ [t̪aˈβ̞oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: ta‧bor

Noun

tabor m (plural tabores)

1. (military) a small battalion

Further reading

• “tabor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025