The table of the host is what the French phrase table d’hote literally means. It was borrowed by the English early in the seventeenth century to refer to the large, communal table found in most inns where everyone, friends and strangers alike, sat to be served whatever meal the host and his servants had prepared for the day. In the late eighteenth century, after the French hit upon the idea of the restaurant—which differed from an inn because it served customers at individual tables and did not provide lodgings—the phrase table d’hote came to mean any complete meal ordered at a set cost. Later on, the fact that the table d’hote was served at a set cost prompted the French to invent a more sensible name, prixfixe, literally meaning fixed price, which the English borrowed in the late nineteenth century. Both these terms existed in contradistinction to a la carte, a French phrase meaning that the items of the meal are chosen by the diner one by one from the carte or menu. Carte, incidentally, derives from the Latin word charta, meaning paper, which in turn arose from the Greek khartes, meaning a leaf of papyrus. The Latin charta is not only the direct source of the French carte but also of the English chart; in turn, the French carte developed into the English card and carton.
This pertains to a full meal that typically includes several courses, all of which are offered at a fixed price. The term originates from the literal meaning of “table of the host,” implying that the diner is invited to partake in a carefully curated culinary experience.