meantone

M3E1A1N1T1O1N1E1

noun

A musical temperament that generates all non-octave intervals from a stack of identical perfect fifths all tuned flat from their just ratio of 3/2. When the amount of flattening makes the major and minor thirds appropriate sizes, the syntonic comma is tempered out to a unison.

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Meanings

nounmeantone (countable and uncountable, plural meantones)

plural meantones

  1. countableuncountableentertainmentA musical temperament that generates all non-octave intervals from a stack of identical perfect fifths all tuned flat from their just ratio of 3/2. When the amount of flattening makes the major and minor thirds appropriate sizes, the syntonic comma is tempered out to a unison.

Origin

From mean + tone.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

meantone. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meantone

MLA

“meantone.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meantone. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “meantone,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meantone.

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