# tableau

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈtæ.bləʊ/ · frequency rank #32,205

## Definitions
1. A striking and vivid representation or scene; a picture.
2. A vivid graphic scene of a group of people or objects arranged as in a painting or bas relief sculpture.
3. An arrangement of actors in static positions on stage, having the effect of pointing up a particular moment in the drama, conventionally revealed by opening tableau curtains (known as "tabs").
4. A two-dimensional array or table of data, usually numbers, of various specific kinds.
5. A table that shows constraint violations of a list of candidates given an input and a constraint ranking.
6. Mostly in solitaire card games, but also in other card and board games, the main area, where random cards can be arranged.
7. A semantic tableau.
8. A unit of a play, an opera, or a ballet with change of stage setting.

## Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French tableau, from Old French tablel (“a surface which is used primarily for painting”).

## Easily confused with
- **tables** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tableau-vs-tables)
- **tablet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tableau-vs-tablet)
- **tabled** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tableau-vs-tabled)
- **table** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/table-vs-tableau)

## Common misspellings (9)
`atbleau`, `tabbleau`, `tabelau`, `tablaeu`, `tableua`, `tablleau`, `talbeau`, `tbaleau`, `ttableau`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/tableau