[2] This simple, collapsible style remained the most common Western form of table until the 16th century, when the basic trestle design gave way to stronger frame-based structures such as gateleg and refectory tables.
[3] Ease of assembly and storage has made it the ideal occasional table, and it remains a popular form of dining table, as those seated are not so inconvenienced as they might be with the more usual arrangement of a fixed leg at each corner.
Trestle tables figure prominently in the traditional American style of household furnishings, usually accompanied by spindle-backed chairs.
[6] The trestle (also tressle, tressel and threstle) is (rarely) used as a charge in heraldry.
It is symbolically associated with hospitality (as historically the trestle was a tripod used both as a stool and to support tables at banquets).