Phrase guide

music theory

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

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.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The field of study dealing with how music works, typically examining the language and notation of music, the patterns and structures in composers' techniques, and so on.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: musical theory, theory of music

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

23 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: теория на музиката (teorija na muzikata) — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Chinese Mandarin: 音樂理論 /音乐理论 (yīnyuè lǐlùn) — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Chinese Mandarin: 樂理 /乐理 (yuèlǐ) — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Dutch: muziektheorie — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Estonian: muusikateooria — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Finnish: musiikinteoria — field of study dealing with how music works
  • German: Musiktheorie — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Hungarian: zeneelmélet — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Icelandic: tónfræði — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Irish: teoiric an cheoil — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Italian: teoria musicale — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Japanese: 音楽理論 (ongaku riron) — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Malay: teori muzik — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Norwegian Bokmål: musikkteori — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: musikkteori — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Portuguese: teoria musical — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Portuguese: teoria da música — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Romanian: teorie muzicală — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Russian: тео́рия музыки (teórija muzyki) — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Spanish: teoría musical — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Swedish: musikteori — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Swedish: musiklära — field of study dealing with how music works
  • Vietnamese: nhạc lí — field of study dealing with how music works