equal temperament

American  

noun

Music.

1. the division of an octave into 12 equal semitones, as in the tuning of a piano.

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Example Sentences

In its simplest terms, just intonation means that the ratios between notes are whole numbers, rather than the irrational ratios that divide the octave in the familiar framework of equal temperament.

From New York Times • Dec. 28, 2021

But it also loses in the process a richness, making me wonder what might have happened were it played in a more acoustically natural equal temperament.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 25, 2017

Meanwhile there was no such thing back then as equal temperament.

From The Guardian • Dec. 29, 2016

Soon he challenged the system of equal temperament that has dominated Western music for centuries.

From New York Times • Apr. 28, 2016

In spite of this, equal temperament works fairly well, because most of the intervals it gives actually fall quite close to the pure intervals.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones