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.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Mus.) 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. --Evelyn.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Anat.) Division into plates or tables with intervening
      spaces; as, the tablature of the cranial bones.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

tablature
    n 1: a musical notation indicating the fingering to be used