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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

di·a·ton·ic

Audio Help [dahy-uh-ton-ik] Pronunciation Key

–adjective Music.

1.	noting those scales that contain five whole tones and two semitones, as the major, minor, and certain modal scales.

2.	of or pertaining to the tones, intervals, or harmonies of such scales.

[Origin: 1590–1600; < LL diatonicus < Gk diatonikós; see dia-, tonic

]

—Related forms

di·a·ton·i·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Diatonic

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

di·a·ton·ic Audio Help (dī'ə-tŏn'ĭk) Pronunciation Key
adj. Music
Of or using only the seven tones of a standard scale without chromatic alterations.

[Late Latin diatonicus, from Greek diatonikos : dia-, dia- + tonos, tone; see tone.]

di'a·ton'i·cal·ly adv., di'a·ton'i·cism (-ĭ-sĭz'əm) n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

diatonic
adjective
1.	based on the standard major or minor scales consisting of 5 tones and 2 semitones without modulation by accidentals [ant: chromatic]
2.	based on or using the five tones and two semitones of the major or minor scales of western music

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Diatonic

Di`a*ton"ic\, a. [L. diatonicus, diatonus, Gr. ?, ?, fr. ? to stretch out; dia` through + ? to stretch: cf. F. diatonique. See Tone.] (Mus.) Pertaining to the scale of eight tones, the eighth of which is the octave of the first.

Diatonic scale (Mus.), a scale consisting of eight sounds with seven intervals, of which two are semitones and five are whole tones; a modern major or minor scale, as distinguished from the chromatic scale.

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