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 | tonus | The stretching or straining of a rope; A strain;... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | τόνος | rope, cord; chord; tone, note |
| 7 | Proto-Hellenic | tónos | rope, cord; tension |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | tónos | something stretched; chord, fiber, string |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ten- | to stretch, to extend |