octatonic

adjective

oc·​ta·​ton·​ic ˌäk-tə-ˈtä-nik How to pronounce octatonic (audio)
variants or less commonly octotonic
: relating to or employing an eight-note scale made up of alternating semitones and whole tones
… a French sixth chord, which contains two tritones, acts as a nexus between the whole-tone scale, which contains three, and the octatonic scale, which contains four.Richard Taruskin, Music in the Early Twentieth Century, 2009
see scale

Word History

First Known Use

1963, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of octatonic was in 1963

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Cite this Entry

“Octatonic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/octatonic. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

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