GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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    Diatonic , a. [L. diatonicus, diatonus, Gr. , , fr. to stretch out; διά 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.
    1913 Webster

    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.

    1913 Webster