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chromatic

Syllabification: (chro·mat·ic)
Pronunciation: /krōˈmatik/
Definition of chromatic

adjective

  • 1 Music relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage is written.
  • (of a scale) ascending or descending by semitones.
  • (of an instrument) able to play all the notes of the chromatic scale.
  • 2of, relating to, or produced by color.

Derivatives

chromatically

Pronunciation: /-ik(ə)lē/
adverb

chromaticism

Pronunciation: /-əˌsizəm/
noun

Origin:

early 17th century: from French chromatique or Latin chromaticus, from Greek khrōmatikos, from khrōma, khrōmat- 'color, chromatic scale'

chromatic in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of chromatic in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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