any musical interval smaller than a semitone, specifically, a quarter tone
Derived forms
microtonal
adjective
microtonality
noun
microtonally
adverb
Word origin
[1915–20; micro- + tone]This word is first recorded in the period 1915–20. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: conditioning, decoder, markup, soviet, stockpilemicro- is a combining form with the meanings “small” (microcosm; microgamete), “very small in comparison with others of its kind” (microcomputer; microlith), “too small to be seen by the unaided eye” (microfossil; microorganism), “dealing with extremely minute organisms, organic structures, or quantities ofa substance” (microdissection; microscope), “localized, restricted in scope or area” (microburst; microhabitat), “(of a discipline) focusing on a restricted area” (microeconomics), “containing or dealing with texts that require enlargement to be read” (microfilm; microreader), “one millionth” (microgram)