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Webster 1913 Edition

Semitone

Sem′i-tone

,
Noun.
[Pref.
semi-
+
tone
. CF.
Hemitone
.]
(Mus.)
Half a tone; – the name commonly applied to the smaller intervals of the diatonic scale.
☞ There is an impropriety in the use of this word, and half step is now preferred. See
Tone
.
J. S. Dwight.

Webster 1828 Edition

Semitone

SEM'ITONE

,
Noun.
[semi and tone.] In music, half a tone; an interval of sound, as between mi and fa on the diatonic scale, which is only half the distance of an interval between ut and re, or sol and la. It is the smallest interval admitted in modern.

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