Word.ws English Dictionary

semitone

/ˈsɛmitoʊn/

semitone noun: one of two parts, equal or unequal, in which a whole tone is divided.

Noun

semitone (plural semitones)

  1. One of two parts, equal or unequal, in which a whole tone is divided.
    1. The semitone in 12-tone equal temperament, with frequency ratio of the twelfth root of two.
  2. (broadly) Any of the pitches of a chromatic scale.
  3. An interval equal to an augmented unison or a minor second, depending on the context and tuning system used.

semitone meaning in Persian

semitone in Persian

interval between adjacent keys
نیمپرده nīmparde

Synonyms of semitone

Forms of semitone

pluralsemitones

Origin of semitone

From semi- + tone.

Words formed from semitone

Questions about semitone

What does semitone mean?
Semitone means one of two parts, equal or unequal, in which a whole tone is divided.
What is semitone in Persian?
Semitone in Persian is نیمپرده (nīmparde). See Semitone meaning in Persian.
What part of speech is semitone?
Semitone is a noun.
How do you pronounce semitone?
Semitone is pronounced /ˈsɛmitoʊn/.
What is the plural of semitone?
The plural of semitone is semitones.

Words near semitone in the dictionary

  1. Semito-Hamitic
  2. Semitological
  3. Semitology
  4. semitonal
  5. semitonally
  6. semitone
  7. semitones
  8. semitonic
  9. semitonically
  10. semitontine
  11. semitopological

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: semitone (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-semitone.wav.

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