Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

diesis

[dahy-uh-sis]
noun, plural di·e·ses [dahy-uh-seez] /ˈdaɪ əˌsiz/. Printing.
  1. double dagger.
Show More

Origin of diesis

1350–1400; orig., any of several musical intervals smaller than a tone (for which a double dagger was used as a symbol); Middle English < Latin di(h)esis < Greek díesis literally, a sending through, equivalent to die-, base of diïénai to send through (di- di-3 + hiénai to send) + -sis -sis
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for diesis

Historical Examples

  • A diesis is a quarter tone; hence in a semitone there are included two dieses.

    Ten Books on Architecture

    Vitruvius

  • The ratio which expresses the value of the diesis is that of 128 to 125.

    Piano Tuning

    J. Cree Fischer

British Dictionary definitions for diesis

diesis

noun plural -ses (-ˌsiːz)
  1. printing another name for double dagger
  2. music
    1. (in ancient Greek theory) any interval smaller than a whole tone, esp a semitone in the Pythagorean scale
    2. (in modern theory) the discrepancy of pitch in just intonation between an octave and either a succession of four ascending minor thirds (great diesis), or a succession of three ascending major thirds (minor diesis)
Show More

Word Origin

C16: via Latin from Greek: a quarter tone, literally: a sending through, from diienai; the double dagger was originally used in musical notation
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012