semitone
/ˈsɛmitoʊn/noun
semitone is spelled S-E-M-I-T-O-N-E: 8 letters. It appears about once in every 12 million words in written English, the 102,771st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, semitone means “One of two parts, equal or unequal, in which a whole tone is divided” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of semitone is semitones.
How many letters and syllables are in semitone?
| Letters | 8: S-E-M-I-T-O-N-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 12 million words; the 102,771st 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 semitone?
Semitone appears about once in every 12 million words in written English, the 102,771st 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 semitone?
- /ˈsɛmitoʊn/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-semitone.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of semitone
- semitones plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does semitone mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
One of two parts, equal or unequal, in which a whole tone is divided.
- 2
The semitone in 12-tone equal temperament, with frequency ratio of the twelfth root of two.
- 3
Any of the pitches of a chromatic scale.
- 4
An interval equal to an augmented unison or a minor second, depending on the context and tuning system used.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Semitone in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense interval between adjacent keys:
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 semitone come from?
From semi- + tone.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).