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Webster 1913 Edition


Diapason

Diˊa-pa′son

,
Noun.
[L., fr. Gr.
διαπασῶν
(i. e.,
ἡ διά πασῶν χορδῶν συμφονία
the concord of the first and last notes, the octave);
διά
through +
πασῶν
, gen. pl. of
πᾶσ
all: cf. F.
diapason
. Cf.
Panacea
.]
1.
(Gr. Mus.)
The octave, or interval which includes all the tones of the diatonic scale. Compare
disdiapason
.
2.
Concord, as of notes an octave apart; harmony.
The fair music that all creatures made . . .
In perfect
diapason
.
Milton.
3.
The entire compass of tones; the entire compass of tones of a voice or an instrument.
Through all the compass of the notes it ran,
The
diapason
closing full in man.
Dryden.
4.
A standard of pitch; a tuning fork;
as, the French normal
diapason
.
5.
One of certain stops in the organ, so called because they extend through the scale of the instrument. They are of several kinds, as
open diapason
,
stopped diapason
,
double diapason
, and the like.

Webster 1828 Edition


Diapason

DIAPASON

, DIAPASE,
Noun.
[Gr., through all.]
1.
In music, the octave or interval which includes all the tones.
2.
Among musical instrument-makers, a rule or scale by which they adjust the pipes of organs, the holes of flutes, &c., in due proportion for expressing the several tones and semitones.
Diapason-diapente, a compound consonance in a triple ratio, as 3 to 9, consisting of 9 tones and a semitone, or 19 semitones; a twelfth.
Diapason-diatessaron, a compound concord, founded on the proportion of 8 to 3, consisting of eight tones and a semitone.
Diapason-ditone, a compound concord, whose terms are as 10 to 4, or 5 to 2.
Diapason-semiditone, a compound concord, whose terms are in the proportion of 12 to 5.

Definition 2024


diapason

diapason

See also: diapasón

English

Noun

diapason (plural diapasons)

  1. the range or scope of something, especially of notes in a scale, or of a particular musical instrument
    • 1934: the piano curving like a conch, corollas giving out diapasons of light — Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer
    • 1961: he could hear nothing except the rattle of the crickets and the swelling diapason of the frogs — Graham Greene, A Burnt-Out Case
  2. the musical octave


Translations


French

Etymology

Latin diapason, from Ancient Greek διαπασων (diapasōn), that is διά (diá) + πασων (pasōn) (χορδων (khordōn)) ‘through all (notes)’.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /dja.pa.zɔ̃/

Noun

diapason m (countable and uncountable, plural diapasons)

  1. (music, uncountable) range, diapason
  2. (countable) a tuning fork