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tableau - 5 dictionary results
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tab⋅leau

  [ta-bloh, tab-loh]
Use tableau in a Sentence
–noun, plural tab⋅leaux  [ta-blohz, tab-lohz] , tab⋅leaus.
1. a picture, as of a scene.
2. a picturesque grouping of persons or objects; a striking scene.
3. a representation of a picture, statue, scene, etc., by one or more persons suitably costumed and posed.
4. Solitaire. the portion of a layout to which one may add cards according to suit or denomination.
Origin:
1690–1700; < F: board, picture, MF tablel, dim. of table table
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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tab·leau   (tāb'lō', tā-blō')   
n.   pl. tab·leaux or tab·leaus (tāb'lōz', tā-blōz')
  1. A vivid or graphic description: The movie was a tableau of a soldier's life.
  2. A striking incidental scene, as of a picturesque group of people: "New public figures suddenly abound in the hitherto faceless totalitarian tableaux" (John McLaughlin).
  3. An interlude during a scene when all the performers on stage freeze in position and then resume action as before.
  4. A tableau vivant.

[French, from Old French tablel, diminutive of table, surface prepared for painting; see table.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Tableau

Ta`bleau"\, n. (Solitaire) The arrangement, or layout, of cards.

Tableau

Ta`bleau"\, n.; pl. Tableaux. [F., dim. fr. L. tabula a painting. See Table.]

1. A striking and vivid representation; a picture.

2. A representation of some scene by means of persons grouped in the proper manner, placed in appropriate postures, and remaining silent and motionless.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : tableau
Spanish: pizarra,
German: die Tafel,
Japanese: 黒板
More Translations »

tableau 
1699, "a picturesque or graphic description or picture," from Fr. tableau "picture, painting," from O.Fr. table "slab, writing tablet" (see table) + dim. suffix -eau, from L. -ellus. Hence tableau-vivant (1817) "person or persons silent and motionless, enacting a well-known scene, incident, painting, etc.," popular 19c. parlor game, lit. "living picture."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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