Diatonic : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: Diatonic	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for Diatonic
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
diatonic adj based on the standard major or minor scales consisting of 5 tones and 2 semitones without modulation by accidentals Antonym(s): chromatic based on or using the five tones and two semitones of the major or minor scales of western music
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Diatonic \Di`aton"ic\, a. [L. diatonicus, diatonus, Gr. [?], [?], fr. [?] to stretch out; dia` through + [?] to stretch: cf. F. diatonique. See {Tone}.] (Mus.) Pertaining to the scale of eight tones, the eighth of which is the octave of the first. {Diatonic* scale} (Mus.), a scale consisting of eight sounds with seven intervals, of which two are semitones and five are whole tones; a modern major or minor scale, as distinguished from the {chromatic} scale.