Mantēlé
1.
A towel or napkin used by the Roman priests in their sacrificial rites (Ovid,
Fast. iv. 933).
2.
In imperial times a table-cloth (
Mart.xii. 29.12). In this
sense it is not employed earlier than the time of Martial, and in an earlier age the table
was not covered, the grain of the wood being an object of admiration. See
Mappa.