subtonic

American

[suhb-ton-ik] / sʌbˈtɒn ɪk /

noun

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

subtonic British

/ sʌbˈtɒnɪk /

noun

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

"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

Etymology

Origin of subtonic

First recorded in 1825–35; sub- + tonic

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Tap into the cumulative wealth of experience and network of the Brotherhood and dance the subtonic tango with these Boxcar Banditos!!

From Time Magazine Archive

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

From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold

"So gradually as to allow its being engrafted on a subtonic."

From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold

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.

From The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 by Ontario. Ministry of Education

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