\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.
2. (Mus.) An ancient mode of indicating musical sounds by
   letters and other signs instead of by notes.
         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.
3. (Anat.) Division into plates or tables with intervening
   spaces; as, the tablature of the cranial bones.