A flat-topped piece of furniture with cupboards and drawers, used for serving food or storing dishes in a dining room.
Originally from the literal 'side board' - a board or plank placed at the side of a medieval dining hall where servants would carve meat and prepare food for serving. These temporary wooden planks evolved into permanent furniture pieces. The term also gave us 'sideburns' - facial hair named after Civil War General Ambrose Burnside, whose distinctive whiskers resembled the decorative edges of sideboards.
Sideboards started as literal boards on the side of medieval dining halls where servants carved your meat. It's fascinating that this practical workspace for food prep evolved into the elegant storage furniture we use today - and somehow also gave us the word 'sideburns.'
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