Hypertext Webster Gateway: "diatonic"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Diatonic \Di`a*ton"ic\, a. [L. diatonicus, diatonus, Gr. ?, ?,
fr. ? to stretch out; dia` through + ? to stretch: cf. F.
diatonique. See {Tone}.] (Mus.)
Pertaining to the scale of eight tones, the eighth of which
is the octave of the first.
{Diatonic scale} (Mus.), a scale consisting of eight sounds
with seven intervals, of which two are semitones and five
are whole tones; a modern major or minor scale, as
distinguished from the {chromatic} scale.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
diatonic
adj 1: (music) based on the standard major or minor scales
consisting of 5 tones and 2 semitones without
modulation by accidentals [ant: {chromatic}]
2: based on or using the five tones and two semitones of the
major or minor scales of Western music
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