How to pronounce tonic
American English pronunciation
TAH-nik
- IPA
- /ˈtɑnɪk/
- Syllables
- TAH · nik (2 syllables, stress on the 1st)
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What tonic means
Most people know tonic in its everyday sense. Here's its other meaning.
The first note of a scale, the one music feels home on
In a sentence: The song ends on the tonic, so it sounds settled and finished.
Where it comes from: It comes from the Greek tonikos, from tonos, a stretching or a tone. The music sense comes from tone.
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