Standard Lemma guide

polytonal

adj · 2 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˌpɑliˈtoʊnəl/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌpɒliˈtəʊnəl/

1

adj

Meaning 1

That uses two or more tonalities simultaneously.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: polytonic

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

using more than one key or tonality simultaneously

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • exciting rhythms and polytonal harmonies

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From poly- + tonal.

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: polytonal — Translations
  • Galician: politonal — Translations
  • German: polytonal — Translations
  • Greek: πολυτονικός (polytonikós) — Translations
  • Italian: politonale — Translations
  • Latin: polytonālis — Translations
  • Polish: politonalny — Translations
  • Portuguese: politonal — Translations
  • Romanian: politonal — Translations
  • Spanish: politonal — Translations