tritone

noun

tri·​tone ˈtrī-ˌtōn How to pronounce tritone (audio)
: a musical interval of three whole steps

Examples of tritone in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Chords have cultural identities attached to them: major triads are bright, minor triads are gloomy, perfect fifths are sturdy, tritones and semitones are unsettling. Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2024 Bulgari is also making history by adding a new tune to a range of chiming timepieces, introducing tritone harmonic intervals, created in collaboration with the Italian-Swiss conductor Lorenzo Viotti. Luisa Zargani, WWD, 3 Sep. 2019 Then, as Claire looks into the eyes of a coyote and senses chaotic energies rising within her, the hum gravitates downward, with double-basses and piano slithering across the classically diabolical interval of the tritone. Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024 Something akin to obsession followed, as composers used tritones to probe the darker corners of nature and humanity. Staff, Quartz, 25 Sep. 2024 Its official title, the tritone, was a chord or interval of notes that was dubbed Diabolus in musica (devil in music) due to its evil sounding harmony. Cameron K McEwan, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 May 2024 There’s a long tradition of the tritone in TV themes, like The Simpsons and The Jetsons. Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 1 June 2021 From top, a punch of pattern by Giorgio Armani; Acne’s clean and lean look; an advanced tritone outfit by E. Tautz. Jacob Gallagher, WSJ, 28 June 2019 The chord seethes with unsettled dissonance, packed with half- and whole-step clashes and anxious tritones, yet its triadic backbone lends stability. Matthew Guerrieri, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Mar. 2018

Word History

Etymology

Greek tritonon, from tri- + tonos tone

First Known Use

1609, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of tritone was in 1609

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Cite this Entry

“Tritone.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tritone. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.

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