Untuning

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To reverse the tuning of an instrument, causing it to lose its intended pitch
2. The act of diminishing or altering the properly tuned state of a melodic device, often leading to discord
3. A process in which the precise adjustment of strings or components is disrupted, resulting in a failure to produce harmonious sounds

Etymology: "Untuning" is the present participle and gerund of "untune," a verb formed from the prefix "un-" attached to "tune." The prefix "un-" here is the common English reversing or undoing element, so "untune" means to take away or disturb the tuned condition of something. "Tune" itself comes from the Middle English "tune," an earlier form of "tone," which passed into English through Old French and ultimately from Latin "tonus," meaning a stretch or tension, as in a stretched string. Because the base word carries the older sense of a pitch or melody, "untune" builds on the idea of a string or instrument being pulled to the right tension. Loosening or misadjusting that tension is what the prefix undoes, which is why the word naturally extends from instruments to any arrangement that falls out of harmony.

Synonyms: detuning, misadjusting, disarranging, unharmonizing, disaligning

Antonyms: tuning, adjusting, harmonizing, aligning, calibrating