Etymology

pentatonic

P3E1N1T1A1T1O1N1I1C3

Today it means: Based on five tones. Full definition →

English tonic ← Ancient Greek τονῐκός (tonĭkós) ← Proto-Hellenic *tónos
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*pénkʷe
  2. Proto-Hellenic*pénkʷe
  3. Ancient Greekπέντε (pénte)
  4. Ancient Greekπεντᾰ- (pentă-)
  5. Englishpenta-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*ten-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*tónos
  8. Proto-Hellenic*tónos
  9. Ancient Greekτόνος (tónos)
  10. Ancient Greekτονῐκός (tonĭkós)
  11. Englishtonic
  12. English todaypentatonic

From penta- + tonic.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.