Standard Lemma guide
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.
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adj
Relating to or characteristic of a musical scale which contains seven pitches and a pattern of five whole tones and two semitones; particularly, of the major or natural minor scales.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective
based on the standard major or minor scales consisting of 5 tones and 2 semitones without modulation by accidentals
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: chromatic
adjective satellite
based on or using the five tones and two semitones of the major or minor scales of western music
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
From French diatonique or Late Latin diatonicus, ultimately from Ancient Greek διατονικός (diatonikós), in the phrase [γένος (génos, “type, genus”)] διατονικός (diatonikós) (in reference to the diatonic tetrachord, and in contrast to the chromatic and enharmonic tetrachords), from διάτονος (diátonos) (διά (diá) + τόνος (tónos)), of disputed etymology, as both components are ambiguous. Most plausibly, διάτονος (diátonos) refers to “stretched intervals”, as the intervals of the diatonic tetrachord are the most evenly distributed or “stretched out”, compared to the chromatic and enharmonic tetrads, which use smaller, more crowded together intervals. Compare pyknon, from πυκνός (puknós, “dense, compressed”), referring to the lower part of the non-diatonic tetrachords: the diatonic tetrachord has widely spaced notes (“stretched out”), while the other tetrachords have a closely spaced notes (“compressed”).
Across languages
15 source translations are retained for this English entry.
