Word
音色
Meaning in Englishtone color, timbre
Animated kanji stroke order
Sentence
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Word context
What it means
What does 音色 mean? It denotes the characteristic color or quality of a sound that distinguishes one tone from another. In music and acoustics, it refers to the perceptual properties of a sound, such as brightness, warmth, harshness, or richness, arising from the instrument, technique, and resonance.
Main meanings
- Primary meaning: timbre or tone color, the perceptual quality that distinguishes two sounds with the same pitch and loudness.
- Nuances: conveys emotional or aesthetic color, e.g., bright or warm timbres.
- Technical usage: used in music analysis, instrument description, voice assessment, and sound design.
How to use it
Used in formal and informal music discourse, including theory, criticism, pedagogy, and audio engineering; typically describes instruments or voices, and appears in phrases like 音色を変える and 豊かな音色. In casual speech, it may appear less frequently than more general terms, but is common in listening discussions.
Variants and close terms
- 音色 (onshoku) — timbre, tone color
- 音色の違い (onshoku no chigai) — differences in timbre
- 音質 (onshitsu) — sound quality
Composition
- 音: sound or tone
- 色: color or hue
- Combined meaning: the color of sound, i.e., its timbral quality
Word class
Noun (名詞)
Word
Related words by kanji and components
N1
色彩
shikisai
color
N1
脚色
kyakushoku
dramatization (e.g., film
N1
着色
chakushoku
coloring, coloring
N1
本音
honne
(one's) real intention, motive
N2
～色
～shoku
kind of color
N2
五十音
gojuuon
the Japanese syllabary
N2
雑音
zatsuon
noise (jarring, grating)
N2
特色
tokushoku
characteristic, feature
N2
灰色
haiiro
grey, ashen
Kanji