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meantone system

American  
[meen-tohn] / ˈminˌtoʊn /

noun

Music.

  1. a system for tuning keyboard instruments, used before the development of tuning by equal temperament and considered practical only for tonalities of not more than two sharps or flats.

Etymology

Origin of meantone system

First recorded in 1790–1800; mean 3 + tone

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.