key signature
noun
Simple meaning
The sharps or flats that follow the clef and indicate the key.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
keesignuhcherSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkiˈsɪɡnətʃɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
music
The sharps or flats that follow the clef and indicate the key
music
An indication of the key of a composition, giving the number of sharps or flats in the corresponding scale.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: The sharps or flats that follow the clef and indicate the key
Used this way, key signature is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a musical use: it is everyday language among musicians and listeners, and specialised outside that.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Music/performance
- Arts writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.