tablature

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: tab=la=ture

CIDE DICTIONARY

tablature, n. [Cf. F. tablature ancient mode of musical notation. See Table.].

•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  An ancient mode of indicating musical sounds by letters and other signs instead of by notes.  [1913 Webster]

  "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."  [1913 Webster]
•  Division into plates or tables with intervening spaces; as, the tablature of the cranial bones.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

tablature, n. Mus. an early form of notation indicating fingering (esp. in playing the lute), rhythm, and features other than notes.

Etymology

F f. It. tavolatura f. tavolare set to music