tritone

American  

[trahy-tohn] / ˈtraɪˌtoʊn /

noun

Music.

1. an interval consisting of three whole tones; an augmented fourth.

---

tritone British  

/ ˈtraɪˌtəʊn /

noun

1. a musical interval consisting of three whole tones; augmented fourth

---

Etymology

Origin of tritone

1600–10; < Medieval Latin tritonus < Greek trítonos having three tones. See tri-, tone

Example Sentences

The first auction will feature iconic works such as Warhol's silkscreen portraits of Marilyn Monroe, an enormous tritone painting by Mark Rothko, and a seascape by Gerhard Richter.

From Reuters • Sep. 9, 2021

The song also relies on an interval called the tritone.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2020

Pictures that seem undistinguished in the tritone reproductions of the catalog are compelling in the originals.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2018

For example, the motif for Julio’s crossing of the threshold contains a fifth, a tritone, a fourth, and a tritone—intervals that narrow and then widen again.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 15, 2016

You have probably noticed by now that the tritone is not the only interval that can be "spelled" in more than one way.

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