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Glite Dictionary
🎵 Smaller in music ⬇️ Made smaller
diminished

diminished

8.0
A musical interval one semitone smaller than a perfect or minor interval
  • adjective
  • /dɪˈmɪnɪʃt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : disminuido
  • In the song, the diminished interval adds a haunting quality to the melody.

They land right on A tonic diminished chord, a major over B flat.

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Examples

  • They land right on A tonic diminished chord, a major over B flat.

    Rick Beato

  • These are the, this is the half diminished chord shape.

  • The musician played a diminished chord to create a tense atmosphere in the piece.

  • To produce a diminished seventh, you lower the root by a half step.

Compounds

diminished arch
9.1

An arch whose height is less than half its width

How Large

augmented
5.2
major
  • Specialized
23 6.5
minor
  • Specialized
16 7.4
diminished
  • Specialized
8.0

Surface Forms

diminished positive

Morphology

diminished = diminish (semi-transparent) = diminish + ed

Formed regularly from 'diminish' + '-ed', but the specialised musical meaning (a specific type of interval) is technical and not fully deducible by general learners.

Etymology

Diminished comes from Latin parts de- 'down' and minuere 'make smaller', and it is related to the simple English word minus meaning 'less'. So in music a diminished interval is literally 'made smaller' than a normal interval, which is why it sounds tense or unstable.