Standard Lemma guide

tablature

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈtæblət͡ʃɜ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: T AE1 B L AH0 CH ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A form of musical notation indicating fingering rather than the pitch of notes, commonly used for stringed instruments.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An engraved tablet, or a painting on a wall or ceiling, or sometimes a picture in general.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A division of the skull into two tables.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: anatomy, medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a musical notation indicating the fingering to be used

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: musical notation

History

Etymology

From French, from Italian tavolatura, from Latin tabulatura, from tabula.

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: tabulatuur — form of musical notation
  • Chinese Mandarin: 指法譜 /指法谱 (zhǐfǎpǔ) — form of musical notation
  • Czech: tabulatura — form of musical notation
  • Esperanto: tabulaturo — form of musical notation
  • Finnish: tablatuuri — form of musical notation
  • Finnish: tabulatuuri — form of musical notation
  • French: tablature — form of musical notation
  • German: Tabulatur — form of musical notation
  • Italian: intavolatura — form of musical notation
  • Italian: tablatura — form of musical notation
  • Italian: tabulatura — form of musical notation
  • Japanese: タブ譜 (tabufu) — form of musical notation
  • Japanese: TAB譜 (tabufu) — form of musical notation
  • Japanese: タブラチュア (taburachua) — form of musical notation
  • Māori: tohu puoro — form of musical notation
  • Polish: tabulatura — form of musical notation
  • Portuguese: tablatura — form of musical notation
  • Romanian: tablatură — form of musical notation
  • Russian: табулатура (tabulatura) — form of musical notation
  • Spanish: tablatura — form of musical notation
  • Swedish: tabulatur — form of musical notation
Real reading context

tablature in complete knowledge articles