detune
verb
detune is spelled D-E-T-U-N-E: 6 letters. It appears about once in every 49 million words in written English, the 217,360th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, detune means “To intentionally lower or raise the pitch produced by a musical instrument, often to produce sounds not normally possible, or to reduce tension in a…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in detune?
| Letters | 6: D-E-T-U-N-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 49 million words; the 217,360th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is detune?
Detune appears about once in every 49 million words in written English, the 217,360th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce detune?
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-detune.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of detune
- detunes present, singular, he/she/it
- detuning participle, present
- detuned participle, past
- de-tune
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does detune mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To intentionally lower or raise the pitch produced by a musical instrument, often to produce sounds not normally possible, or to reduce tension in a stringed instrument for the purpose of shipping or maintenance.
Some avant-garde composers request that performers detune their instruments before playing.
- 2
To alter the resonant frequency of a tuned system so that it is slightly different from a specified target frequency.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Detune in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense alter the resonant frequency of a tuned system:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Portuguese | dessintonizar |
| Spanish | desintonizar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does detune come from?
From de- + tune.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).