semitone
/ˈsɛmitoʊn/
"semitone" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“semitone” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An interval between adjacent notes in a chromatic scale.
Corpus desk
Index EN-semitone · semitone · English
semitone · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | semitone |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsɛmitoʊn/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “semitone” in English
Rare enough to double-check
semitone is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈsɛmitoʊn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for semitone, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From semi- + tone. The correct English form is semitone, spelled S-E-M-I-T-O-N-E.
Definition
- 1An interval between adjacent notes in a chromatic scale.
- 2An interval between adjacent notes in a chromatic scale.
- 3Any of the pitches of a chromatic scale.
- 4An interval equal to an augmented unison or a minor second, depending on the context and tuning system used.
Etymology
From semi- + tone.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.