[trahy-tohn] 
| an interval consisting of three whole tones; an augmented fourth. |
| tri·tone (trī'tōn') n. Music An interval composed of three whole tones. [Medieval Latin tritonus, from Greek tritonos, having three tones : tri-, three; see trei- in Indo-European roots + tonos, tone; see tone.] |
tritone
in music, the interval encompassed by three consecutive whole steps, as for instance the distance from F to B (the whole steps F-G, G-A, and A-B). In semitone notation, the tritone is composed of six semitones; thus it divides the octave symmetrically in equal halves. In musical notation the tritone is written either as an augmented fourth (e.g., F-B or C-F) or as a diminished fifth (e.g., B-F or C-G).
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