Periodic table or periodic system?

[Rene]

I'm wrestling with a conundrum and would appreciate the thoughts of others.

It seems odd that periodic tables are sometimes referred to as periodic systems.

I say odd because a table is said to be:

A systematic arrangement of numbers, words, symbols, etc., in a definite and compact form so as to show clearly some set of facts or relations.

So a table in this sense is a system.

Most periodic tables are tabular. And yes periodic tables come in all sorts of shapes. Yet furniture tables can be, for example, round, triangular, oval, wedge shaped or even spiral. They’re still all called tables, regardless of their shape.

While Mendeleev referred to his periodic "tables" as periodic systems he stuck with the tabular form all the way.

On the side of the cardboard box in which my Periodic Table Mug arrived are printed the following words: "The Periodic Table is a systematic arrangement of the elements…"

So, what gives?

René