Where does “diatonic” come from?
Diatonic comes from French diatonique, from the -ique suffix, from Latin -icus, from Proto-Indo-European -kos, combining Ancient Greek διά meaning through with τόνος tone, from τείνω to stretch, rooted in Proto-Indo-European ten-.
diatonic (English): Relating to or characteristic of a musical scale...
Definitions
- Relating to or characteristic of a musical scale...
Ancestry of “diatonic”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | diatonique | diatonic |
| 2 | French | diaton | An interval of two whole tones |
| 3 | French | ton | Your, thy; Tone; Tone, shade |
| 4 | Old French | ton | your |
| 5 | Latin | tuus | your |
| 6 | Russian | туз | ace; bigwig; two-oar dinghy |
| 7 | Polish | tuz | ace; luminary, person of importance in their... |
| 8 | Polish | tu | here |
| 9 | Polish | być | to be |
| 10 | Polish | móc | to be able; may, might; to be allowed |
| 11 | Old Polish | móc | can, may, to be able to |
| 12 | Proto-Slavic | moťь | power |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | mógʰtis | — |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | meǵʰ- | to be able |