Di`a*ton"ic (?), a. [L. diatonicus, diatonus, Gr. , , fr. to stretch out; through + to stretch: cf. F. diatonique. See Tone.] Mus.
Pertaining to the scale of eight tones, the eighth of which is the octave of the first.
Diatonic scale Mus., a scale consisting of eight sounds with seven intervals, of which two are semitones and five are whole tones; a modern major or minor scale, as distinguished from the chromatic scale.
© Webster 1913.