Tonal

Quick meaning: Tonal is an adjective meaning Of or relating to tones or tonality.

Meaning

Of or relating to tones or tonality.

More Meanings

1. Of or relating to the general character, mood, or trend of something.
2. (music) Employing tones that have a predictable relationship to some tonic.
3. (in Mesoamerican mythology) An animal companion which accompanies a person from birth to death.
4. (linguistics) Employing differences in pitch (tones) to distinguish differences in the meaning of otherwise similar words (words which would otherwise be homophonic).

Example Sentences

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

Songs for the family-table on Sabbaths and holidays—songs which give those various holy days tonal expression and which aim to spiritualize the meals.

The lurid way the story played out felt like a tonal shift for Empire, but not necessarily a bad one—in the process of shedding its cool costume-drama attitude for grotesque family dysfunction, the episode felt for once less like a story about Prohibition and more one about a specific set of people.

Word Forms

• tonals
• tona

Synonyms for tonal

Depending on context, synonyms include tonic, toned, keyed, diatonic, polytonal.

Antonyms for tonal

Common opposites include atonal, bottlebrush.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include toned, polytonal, diatonic, tonic, keyed, tone.

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