tritone

/ˈtɹaɪˌtəʊ̯n/

//ˈtɹaɪˌtəʊ̯n// noun

"tritone" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tritone” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An interval of three whole tones.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tritone · tritone · English

tritone · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "T" 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.

Key facts for tritone
PropertyValue
Headwordtritone
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈtɹaɪˌtəʊ̯n/
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “tritone” in English

tritonesits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tritone is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈtɹaɪˌtəʊ̯n/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An interval of three whole tones.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for tritone, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin tritonus, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek τρίτονος (trítonos). By surface analysis, tri- + tone. The correct English form is tritone, spelled T-R-I-T-O-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An interval of three whole tones.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how tritone appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Near-synonyms: augmented fourth, diminished fifth
  2. The tritone has a pitch ratio close to 17:12.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin tritonus, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek τρίτονος (trítonos). By surface analysis, tri- + 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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "tritone"?
"tritone" is spelled T-R-I-T-O-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈtɹaɪˌtəʊ̯n/.
What does "tritone" mean?
As a noun, "tritone" means: An interval of three whole tones.
How do you pronounce "tritone"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tritone" is /ˈtɹaɪˌtəʊ̯n/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "tritone"?
Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin tritonus, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek τρίτονος (trítonos). By surface analysis, tri- + tone. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list