whole tone

W w

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [hohl tohn]
- /hoʊl toʊn/
- /həʊl təʊn/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [hohl tohn]
- /hoʊl toʊn/

Definitions of whole tone words

noun whole tone an interval of two semitones, as A-B or B-C♯; a major second. 1
noun whole tone an interval of two semitones; a frequency difference of 200 cents in the system of equal temperament 0
noun whole tone an interval consisting of two adjacent semitones 0

See all 3 definitions of whole tone

Information block about the term

Origin of whole tone

First appearance:

before 1895

One of the 18% newest English words

First recorded in 1895-1900

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Whole tone

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Whole tone

whole tone popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 36% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 58% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

whole tone usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer