diesis

di·e·sis  (d-ss)

n. pl. di·e·ses (-sz)

See double dagger.

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[Medieval Latin, semitone (which was indicated by a double dagger), from Latin, quarter tone, from Greek diesis, a letting through, from dienai, to send through : dia-, dia- + henai, to send; see y- in Indo-European roots.]

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diesis [ˈdaɪɪsɪs]

n pl -ses [-ˌsiːz]

1. (Communication Arts / Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) Printing another name for double dagger

2. (Music, other) Music

a.  (in ancient Greek theory) any interval smaller than a whole tone, esp a semitone in the Pythagorean scale

b.  (in modern theory) the discrepancy of pitch in just intonation between an octave and either a succession of four ascending minor thirds (great diesis), or a succession of three ascending major thirds (minor diesis)

[via Latin from Greek: a quarter tone, literally: a sending through, from diienai; the double dagger was originally used in musical notation]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

diesis - a character used in printing to indicate a cross reference or footnote double dagger, double obelisk grapheme, graphic symbol, character - a written symbol that is used to represent speech; "the Greek alphabet has 24 characters"