demi-ton
\də.mi.tɔ̃\
The verdict
“demi-ton” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Intervalle d'une valeur de la moitié d'un ton.
Corpus desk
Index FR-demi-ton · demi-ton · French
demi-ton · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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 | demi-ton |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \də.mi.tɔ̃\ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « demi-ton » en français
Rare enough to double-check
demi-ton is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \də.mi.tɔ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
demi-ton has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is demi-ton, spelled D-E-M-I---T-O-N.
Definition
- 1Intervalle d'une valeur de la moitié d'un ton.
- 2Demi-teinte.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how demi-ton appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Le demi-ton est le plus petit intervalle employé dans la musique occidentale.
Max Roach raconte qu’en utilisant cette technique si caractéristique qui consiste à frapper deux notes voisines d’un demi-ton pour en relâcher l’une des deux une fraction de seconde après, Monk avait pour but d’imiter la torsion qu’un cuivre peut infliger à la justesse d’une note (pitch bend). Démarche passionnante, car nécessairement infructueuse : le pi…
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.