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tritone

American  
[trahy-tohn] / ˈtraɪˌtoʊn /

noun

Music.
  1. an interval consisting of three whole tones; an augmented fourth.


tritone British  
/ ˈtraɪˌtəʊn /

noun

  1. a musical interval consisting of three whole tones; augmented fourth

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of tritone

1600–10; < Medieval Latin tritonus < Greek trítonos having three tones. See tri-, tone

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The first auction will feature iconic works such as Warhol's silkscreen portraits of Marilyn Monroe, an enormous tritone painting by Mark Rothko, and a seascape by Gerhard Richter.

From Reuters • Sep. 9, 2021

The song also relies on an interval called the tritone.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2020

He asked if I’d heard of the Devil’s interval, the tritone: a combination of notes that create a brooding, menacing dissonance.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 2, 2019

Pictures that seem undistinguished in the tritone reproductions of the catalog are compelling in the originals.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2018

The ‘diabolical’ sound produced by F and B, a distance known as a tritone, is likewise produced by pairing Bt and E, E and A#, C and Gl>, and all the other possible tritones.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall