from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Tablature \Tab"la*ture\, n. [Cf. F. tablature ancient mode of
musical notation. See {Table}.]
1. (Paint.) A painting on a wall or ceiling; a single piece
comprehended in one view, and formed according to one
design; hence, a picture in general. --Shaftesbury.
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2. (Mus.) An ancient mode of indicating musical sounds by
letters and other signs instead of by notes.
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The chimes of bells are so rarely managed that I
went up to that of Sir Nicholas, where I found who
played all sorts of compositions from the tablature
before him as if he had fingered an organ. --Evelyn.
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3. (Anat.) Division into plates or tables with intervening
spaces; as, the tablature of the cranial bones.
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