Semitone

//ˈsɛmitoʊn// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A musical interval equal to an augmented unison or a minor second, depending on the context and tuning system used
  2. 2
    the musical interval between adjacent keys on a keyboard instrument wordnet
  3. 3
    Any of the pitches of the chromatic scale

Synonyms

All synonyms
half stepdegreediapasonfifthfourthhalf step

Example

More examples

"Tom is having fun playing the Sonatina in C major with only the right hand raised a semitone."

Etymology

From semi- + tone.

Related phrases

chromatic semitonediatonic semitone

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.