subtonic

[suhb-ton-ik]

noun

1. the seventh tone of a scale, being the next below the upper tonic.

subtonic

/ sʌbˈtɒnɪk /

noun

1. Also called: leading note. music the seventh degree of a major or minor scale

Word History and Origins

Origin of subtonic¹

First recorded in 1825–35; sub- + tonic

Example Sentences

The elementary sounds of speech are of three natural divisions; the tonics, the subtonics, and the atonics.

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Nay, this grammatist makes b, not a labial mute, as Walker, Webster, Cobb, and others, have called it, but a nasal subtonic, or semivowel.

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Proceed in a similar manner with the other subtonics.

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The Atonics correspond with the first eleven of the subtonics as given above, from which they differ almost alone in having no vocality.

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Some syllables that so end, by virtue of tonic or subtonic elements which they may contain, are capable of some prolongation; for example, warp, dart, block, grab, dread, grog.

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