tonal
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Having tonality; i.e. tones and chords organized in relation to one tone such as a keynote or tonic.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
tohnuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtoʊnəl
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.
adjective
Having tonality; i.e. tones and chords organized in relation to one tone such as a keynote or tonic
Of or relating to tones or tonality.
music
Employing tones that have a predictable relationship to some tonic.
Of or relating to the general character, mood, or trend of something.
noun
in Mesoamerican mythology
An animal companion which accompanies a person from birth to death.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Having tonality; i.e. tones and chords organized in relation to one tone such as a keynote or tonic
Used this way, tonal is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use tonal
- “Chinese is a tonal language.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A language in which different tones distinguish different meanings.
The perception of pleasant arrangements of musical notes.
The system of tones used in a particular language or dialect of a tone language.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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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.