dodecaphonist

D2O1D2E1C3A1P3H4O1N1I1S1T1

noun

A practitioner or proponent of dodecaphony, i.e. use of the dodecaphonic musical scale, which has twelve tones per octave

“The pioneering Austrian composer Arnold Schönberg was the leading dodecaphonist.”

OriginAncient Greek δώδεκα →
Scrabble 22
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

noundodecaphonist (plural dodecaphonists)

plural dodecaphonists

  1. entertainmentA practitioner or proponent of dodecaphony, i.e. use of the dodecaphonic musical scale, which has twelve tones per octave

    The pioneering Austrian composer Arnold Schönberg was the leading dodecaphonist.

    1 more example

    The schism between the dodecaphonists and the priests of tonality.

    1984 April 14, Richard Knisely, “Quintessential Narcissism”, in Gay Community News, page 13

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekδώδεκα“twelve”
  2. Englishdodecaphonist

International word formed circa 1950 from Ancient Greek δώδεκα (dṓdeka, “twelve”) + φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound”) + -ist, recorded in English since 1953, presumably modeled on German Dodekaphonist.

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Dutch dodecafonist, dodecaphonist
  • dodecafonistproponent of dodecaphony
  • dodecaphonistproponent of dodecaphony
French dodécaphoniste
  • dodécaphonisteproponent of dodecaphony
German Dodekaphonist
  • Dodekaphonistproponent of dodecaphony
Cite this entry
APA

dodecaphonist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dodecaphonist

MLA

“dodecaphonist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dodecaphonist. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dodecaphonist,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dodecaphonist.

Source: dodecaphonist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.