Adjacent Words

subtonic definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (music) the seventh note of the diatonic scale [syn: subtonic, leading tone]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: from its being a half tone below the upper tonic Date: circa 1854 leading tone

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. Mus. the note below the tonic, the seventh note of the diatonic scale of any key.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Subtonic Sub*ton"ic, n. 1. (Phonetics) A subtonic sound or element; a vocal consonant, as b, d, g, n, etc.; a subvocal. 2. (Mus.) The seventh tone of the scale, or that immediately below the tonic; -- called also subsemitone.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Subtonic Sub*ton"ic, a. (Phonetics) Applied to, or distinguishing, a speech element consisting of tone, or proper vocal sound, not pure as in the vowels, but dimmed and otherwise modified by some kind of obstruction in the oral or the nasal passage, and in some cases with a mixture of breath sound; -- a term introduced by Dr. James Rush in 1833. See Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect]155, 199-202.