English

hemitonic

From hemi- + tone + -ic.

Formed from hemi- + tone + -ic

Proto-Indo-European *sem- ‘one, whole’

Proto-Indo-European *sēmi ‘half’

English hemi-

Proto-Indo-European *ten- ‘to stretch’

…

Proto-Hellenic *tónos ‘tension’

Ancient Greek τόνος ‘strain, tension, pitch’

Latin tonus ‘sound, tone’

Middle English ton ‘tone, sound’

English tone

Today it means

adj relating to half steps

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / hemitonic