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keynote - 6 dictionary results

key⋅note

  [kee-noht] noun, verb, -not⋅ed, -not⋅ing.
Use keynote in a Sentence
–noun
1. Music. the note or tone on which a key or system of tones is founded; the tonic.
2. the main idea or central principle of a speech, program, thought, action, etc.
3. the policy line to be followed, as by a party in a political campaign, that is set forth authoritatively in advance by an address or other formal announcement.
4. keynote address.
–verb (used with object)
5. to announce the policy of (a political party, campaign, assembly, etc.); deliver a keynote address at: The governor will keynote the convention.
6. to serve as the keynote for.
7. Music. to give the keynote of.
–verb (used without object)
8. to provide a keynote, esp. a keynote address: He refused an invitation to keynote.
Origin:
1755–65; key 1 + note

keynote address

 
–noun
a speech, as at a political convention, that presents important issues, principles, policies, etc.
Also called keynote, keynote speech.

Origin:
1905–10
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To keynote
key·note   (kē'nōt')   
n.  
  1. The tonic of a musical key.
  2. A prime underlying element or theme: "The keynote of the revolution settlement was personal freedom under the law" (G.M. Trevelyan).
tr.v.   key·not·ed, key·not·ing, key·notes
  1. To give or set the keynote of.
  2. Informal To give a keynote address at: keynoted the press luncheon.
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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Keynote

Key"note`\, n. 1. (Mus.) The tonic or first tone of the scale in which a piece or passage is written; the fundamental tone of the chord, to which all the modulations of the piece are referred; -- called also key tone.

2. The fundamental fact or idea; that which gives the key; as, the keynote of a policy or a sermon.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : keynote
Spanish: tónica,
German: der Grundton,
Japanese: 主音
More Translations »

keynote 
"lowest note of a musical scale, basis of a scale," 1776, from key (1) in sense of "musical scale" + note. Fig. sense of "leading idea" is from 1783; keynote address is 1905, Amer.Eng.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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keynote

in music, the first note (degree) of any diatonic (e.g., major or minor) scale. It is the most important degree of the scale, serving as the focus for both melody and harmony. The term tonic may also refer to the tonic triad, the chord built in thirds from the tonic note (as C-E-G in C major). See also tonality.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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