Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TAB'LA-TURE, n. [from table.]

1. Painting on walls and ceilings; a single piece comprehended in one view, and formed according to one design. Johnson. Lord Shaftsbury.
2. In music, the expression of sounds or notes of composition by letters of the alphabet or ciphers, or other characters not used in modern music. In a stricter sense, the manner of writing a piece for the lute, theorbo, guitar, base viol, or the like; which is done by writing on several parallel lines, (each of which represents a string of the instrument,) certain letters of the alphabet, referring to the frets on the neck of the instrument, each letter directing how some note is to be sounded. Cyc.
3. In anatomy, a division or parting of the skull into two tables. Cyc.