English

Adjective

tonal ‎(comparative more tonal, superlative most tonal)

1. Of or relating to tones or tonality.
2. (music) Employing tones that have a predictable relationship to some tonic.
3. (linguistics) Employing differences in pitch (tones) to distinguish differences in the meaning of otherwise similar words (words which would otherwise be homophonic).

Translations

Antonyms

• atonal

Related terms

• tonality
• tonally

Etymology 2

From Nahuatl tōnalli ‎(“day, day sign”)

Alternative forms

• tona, tonalli

Noun

tonal ‎(plural tonals)

1. (in Mesoamerican mythology) An animal companion which accompanies a person from birth to death.
   • 1989, Robert Bartley Taylor, Indians of Middle America: an introduction to the ethnology of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, page 122:

     When a tonal suffers misfortune or death, the same thing happens to the person associated with it.

See also

• nahual

Anagrams

• Alton
• laton
• talon

French

Etymology

ton +‎ -al

Adjective

tonal m ‎(feminine singular tonale, masculine plural tonaux, feminine plural tonales)

1. tonal