semitonaladj.
/ˌsɛmɪˈtəʊnl/, U.S. /ˌsɛmiˈtoʊn(ə)l/, /ˌsɛˌmaɪˈtoʊn(ə)l/ Music.
Relating to or consisting of a semitone or semitones; (of a scale) chromatic.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > interval > [adjective] > semitonal
semitonic1728
semitonal1825
1825 J. Boaden Mem. J. P. Kemble I. ii. ii. 448 The trick called the semitonal run, he really executed with distinctness.
1863 Guardian 18 Nov. 1082/1 It is..improbable that they would ever have abandoned a semitonal scale..in order to adopt so very different a system as their present one.
1923 Times 20 Dec. 10/3 One wonders what those wretched semitonal progressions are doing in a carol of all things.
2004 Church Times 17 Sept. 36/1 At the end of the Kyrie came a semitonal clash on which the singers lingered lovingly before concord was restored with an open fifth.
Derivatives
semiˈtonally adv. by a semitone or semitones.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > interval > [adverb] > semitonal
semitonically1838
semitonally1856
1856 Ecclesiologist 17 17 The front pipes should, like the rest, be arranged semitonally.
1885 London & Prov. Mus. Trades Rev. 15 Sept. 7 The trumpet calls are accompanied by the violins rising semitonally.
1954 F. Howes Music R. Vaughan Williams 72 The violins grind semitonally against each other.
2009 Jrnl. Music Theory 53 235 Musically, any tritone can resolve semitonally to two different major thirds.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1825