tableau
tableau Lexical Profile
tableau Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A dramatic scene or picturesque representation produced by a group of silent, motionless people arranged in appropriate costumes and postures, or by models and figures.
"At the end of the first act, the performers froze in a striking tableau depicting the signing of the treaty."
A vivid, graphic, or striking scene, sight, or description that gives a clear impression of a situation.
"The novelist painted a rich tableau of nineteenth-century Parisian street life."
In solitaire and certain other card games, the main layout of cards dealt face up on the playing surface where sequences are built.
"She moved the red queen onto the black king in the tableau to free up a hidden card."
Word Nuance & Usage
Both 'tableaux' and 'tableaus' are accepted plurals in English, with the French-derived 'tableaux' favored in formal, theatrical, and academic writing.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 17th century from French 'tableau' (meaning 'picture' or 'board'), a diminutive of Old French 'table', from Latin 'tabula' ('board, plank, or painted tablet').