microtone

M3I1C3R1O1T1O1N1E1

noun

Any interval smaller than a semitone

OriginEnglish tone ← Middle English tone ← Latin tonus →
Scrabble 13
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Meanings

nounmicrotone (plural microtones)

plural microtones

  1. entertainmentAny interval smaller than a semitone

Origin

  1. Englishmicro-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ten-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*tónos
  4. Proto-Hellenic*tónos
  5. Ancient Greekτόνος (tónos)
  6. Latintonus
  7. Middle Englishtone
  8. Englishtone
  9. Englishmicrotone

From micro- + tone.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Montericoemotronic
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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