semitone

[ sem-ee-tohn, sem-ahy- ]

/ ˈsɛm iˌtoʊn, ˈsɛm aɪ- /

noun Music.

a pitch interval halfway between two whole tones.

Nearby words

semitic, semitics, semitism, semitist, semito-hamitic, semitone, semitrailer, semitranslucent, semitransparent, semitrivial name, semitropical

Origin of semitone

First recorded in 1600–10; semi- + tone

Also called half step, half tone.

Related forms

sem·i·ton·ic

[sem-ee-ton-ik, sem-ahy-] /ˌsɛm iˈtɒn ɪk, ˌsɛm aɪ-/, sem·i·ton·al

[sem-ee-tohn-l, sem-ahy-] /ˌsɛm iˈtoʊn l, ˌsɛm aɪ-/, adjectivesem·i·ton·al·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for semitone

The Lydian mode is identical with our major scale except for the semitone between the 4th and 5th degrees.
Music: An Art and a Language|Walter Raymond Spalding
Paganini again directs the violin to be tuned a semitone higher, writing the solo part in D, and the accompaniment in E flat.
Nicolo Paganini: His Life and Work|Stephen Samuel Stratton
They had a bell on each leg, and there was a difference of a semitone between the two bells.
Life of Edward the Black Prince|Louise Creighton
Here the music, passing up the chord with each note preceded by the semitone above, sounds like a series of broken sighs.
Musical Criticisms|Arthur Johnstone

Thus, the passage just cited, put a semitone lower, becomes a perfectly diatonic modulation from C to E flat.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 1|Various

British Dictionary definitions for semitone

semitone

/ (ˈsɛmɪˌtəʊn) /

noun

an interval corresponding to a frequency difference of 100 cents as measured in the system of equal temperament, and denoting the pitch difference between certain adjacent degrees of the diatonic scale (diatonic semitone) or between one note and its sharpened or flattened equivalent (chromatic semitone); minor secondAlso called (US and Canadian): half step Compare whole tone

Derived Forms

semitonic (ˌsɛmɪˈtɒnɪk), adjectivesemitonally, adverb

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