halftone
UK[ˈhɑːftəʊn]US[ˈhæftoʊn]
n
a reproduction of an image in which the various tones of gray or color are produced by variously sized dots of ink.
n
(music) a semitone; an interval of half a step in a musical scale.
Morpheme Breakdown
half
tone
half
half
tone
tone
Etymology
the word 'halftone' is a transparent english compound, directly combining two native and borrowed elements. 'half', a germanic word from proto-indo-european (s)kel- meaning 'to cut', evolved to denote one of two equal parts. 'tone' entered english via latin and greek from the pie root ten- 'to stretch', referring originally to a stretched string and its sound. in printing, coined in the late 19th century, it logically denotes a technique where a continuous 'tone' is broken into a pattern of dots to simulate shades, conceptually using 'half' to imply an intermediate or broken state. in music, its meaning as a semitone is a more literal application of 'half' modifying the interval of a 'tone'.
Analysis
Structure: half (half) + tone (tone)
'half' originates from old english 'half', meaning 'side, part', and functions as a quantifying prefix. 'tone' originates from latin 'tonus' (via old french and greek), meaning 'sound, tension, pitch', and functions as the core noun.
Examples
the newspaper photograph was printed using a halftone screen.
in western music, there are twelve halftones in an octave.
the artist adjusted the halftone dots to create a smoother gradient.