Semitone
/ˈsɛm.i.toʊn/noun
An interval in music equal to half a tone, or the smallest standard step in Western tonal music.
Did you know?The word was built from Latin semi- (“half”) + tone, and that tiny interval became one of the core building blocks of Western music theory.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
semi-
“half”
Latin
Latin
tonus
“sound, tone; tension in music or speech”
Late Middle English
English
semitone
“a musical interval equal to half a tone”
Modern English
English
semitone
“the smallest conventional interval in Western music”
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