See Also: diatonic(medicine)
diatonic(dictionary)
diatonic scale(dictionary)

diatonic (iou)



diatonic adjective. E17.
[Old & mod. French diatonique or late Latin diatonicus, from Greek diatonikos at intervals of a tone, formed as DIA-1 + tonos TONE noun: see -IC.]
Music.
1. Hist. Designating (ancient Greek music based on) a tetrachord divided into two tones and a lower semitone. E17.
2. Using only the notes proper to one key without chromatic alteration; based on a scale with five tones and two separated semitones. L17.
G. Meredith Crossjay's voice ran up and down a diatonic scale. A. Hopkins Diatonic notes are those which 'belong' to a particular scale. C. Ives The first movement..is primarily diatonic.
diatonically adverb E18.
diatonicism noun (an instance of) the use of diatonic tonality M20.
di'atonism noun = diatonicism E20.