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diapason

 - 3 dictionary results

di⋅a⋅pa⋅son

[dahy-uh-pey-zuhn, -suhn]
–noun Music.
1. a full, rich outpouring of melodious sound.
2. the compass of a voice or instrument.
3. a fixed standard of pitch.
4. either of two principal timbres or stops of a pipe organ, one of full, majestic tone (open diapason) and the other of strong, flutelike tone (stopped diapason).
5. any of several other organ stops.
6. a tuning fork.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME diapasoun < L diapāsōn the whole octave < Gk dià pāsôn (chordôn) through all (the notes), short for hē dià pāsôn chordôn symphōnía the concord through all the notes of the scale


di⋅a⋅pa⋅son⋅al, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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di·a·pa·son   (dī'ə-pā'zən, -sən)   
n.  
  1. A full, rich outpouring of harmonious sound.

  2. The entire range of an instrument or voice.

  3. Either of the two principal stops on a pipe organ that form the tonal basis for the entire scale of the instrument.

  4. The interval and the consonance of an octave.

  5. A standard indication of pitch.

  6. A tuning fork.


[Middle English diapasoun, from Latin diapāsōn, the whole octave, from Greek dia pāsōn (khordōn), through all (the notes) : dia, through; see dia- + pāsōn, feminine genitive pl. of pās, every; see pant- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia

diapason

(from Greek dia pason chordon: "through all the strings"), in medieval music, the interval, or distance between notes, encompassing all degrees of the scale-i.e., the octave. In French, diapason indicates the range of a voice and is also the word for a tuning fork and for pitch

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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