bemol

See also: bémol

English

Etymology

From Italian bemolle, from Medieval Latin b molle (“B-flat”, literally “soft B”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiːmɒl/

Noun

bemol (plural bemols)

1. (music, obsolete) The flat symbol (♭), or a flattened note.

   Antonym: diesis

   • 1753, The Deist Triumphant‎^[1], page 154:

     F natural has a Bemol on b. [...] B flat has a Bemol on b and e.

   • 1818, George Jones, History of the Rise and Progress of Music, Theoretical and Practical‎^[2], page 345:

     Now B♭, which is ſuppoſed to be repreſented by Nº 6. of the hammers, is the generator of the next modulation or key in the bemol or flat mode, F.

   • 1841, Terence Joseph O'Donnelly, The Academy of Elementary Music‎^[3], page 133:

     Sol major has only one dièse for a signature; therefore sol ♭ major must have six bemols; six and one make seven.

Translations

bemol

• Esperanto: bemolo
• French: bémol (fr) m
• Greek: ύφεση (el) f (ýfesi)
• Hungarian: bé (hu)
• Italian: bemolle (it) m
• Polish: bemol (pl) m
• Portuguese: bemol (pt) m
• Russian: бемо́ль (ru) m (bemólʹ)
• Spanish: bemol (es) m

Anagrams

• Blome, Lembo, embol-, moble, Bloem

Albanian

Etymology

From Italian bemolle.

Adjective

bemol

1. (music) flat (lowered by one semitone)

Noun

bemol m

1. (music) flat

Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Italian bemolle

French bémolbor.

Polish bemol

Borrowed from French bémol, from Italian bemolle.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛ.mɔl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛmɔl
• Syllabification: be‧mol

Noun

bemol m inan

1. (music) flat (note played a semitone lower than a natural)

   Coordinate term: krzyżyk

Declension

Declension of bemol

	singular	plural
nominative	bemol	bemole
genitive	bemola	bemoli/bemolów
dative	bemolowi	bemolom
accusative	bemol	bemole
instrumental	bemolem	bemolami
locative	bemolu	bemolach
vocative	bemolu	bemole

Derived terms

adjective

• bemolowy

noun

• bemol podwójny

Further reading

• “bemol”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[4] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “bemol”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[5] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian bemolle. By surface analysis, bê + mole.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /beˈmɔw/ [beˈmɔʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /bɨˈmɔl/ [bɨˈmɔɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /bɨˈmɔl/ [bɨˈmɔɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /bɨˈmɔ.li/

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -ɔw, (Portugal) -ɔl
• Hyphenation: be‧mol

Adjective

bemol m or f (plural bemóis, not comparable)

1. (music, note) flat (lowered by one semitone)

Noun

bemol m (plural bemóis)

1. (music) flat (note played a semitone lower than a natural)

Further reading

• “bemol”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French bémol or Italian bemolle.

Noun

bemol m (plural bemoli)

1. bemol

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	bemol	bemolul	bemoli	bemolii
genitive-dative	bemol	bemolului	bemoli	bemolilor
vocative	bemolule		bemolilor

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Etruscander.

Latin be

Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld-

Proto-Indo-European *ml̥dus

Proto-Italic *moldus

Latin *molvis ‹ *mollvis ‹ *molduis

Latin mollis

Latin mollenom.

Latin molle

Medieval Latin be molleder.

Spanish bemol

Derived from Medieval Latin be molle (“B-flat”, literally “soft B”). By surface analysis, be + mole.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beˈmol/ [beˈmol]
• Rhymes: -ol
• Syllabification: be‧mol

Adjective

bemol m or f (masculine and feminine plural bemoles)

1. (music) flat

   Esta pieza está compuesta en re bemol.

   This piece was composed in D flat.

Derived terms

• abemolar

Noun

bemol m (plural bemoles)

1. (music) flat symbol

   Se te olvidó poner un par de bemoles.

   You forgot to add a couple of flats.

Further reading

• “bemol”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “bemol”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010
• Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José Antonio (1984), “bemol”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic etymological dictionary]‎^[6] (in Spanish), volume I (A–Ca), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 563, column 1

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from French bémol.

Noun

bemol (definite accusative bemolü, plural bemollar)

1. (music) flat

Declension

Declension of bemol

singular plural nominative bemol bemoller definite accusative bemolü bemolleri dative bemole bemollere locative bemolde bemollerde ablative bemolden bemollerden genitive bemolün bemollerin Possessive forms nominative singular plural 1st singular bemolüm bemollerim 2nd singular bemolün bemollerin 3rd singular bemolü bemolleri 1st plural bemolümüz bemollerimiz 2nd plural bemolünüz bemolleriniz 3rd plural bemolleri bemolleri definite accusative singular plural 1st singular bemolümü bemollerimi 2nd singular bemolünü bemollerini 3rd singular bemolünü bemollerini 1st plural bemolümüzü bemollerimizi 2nd plural bemolünüzü bemollerinizi 3rd plural bemollerini bemollerini dative singular plural 1st singular bemolüme bemollerime 2nd singular bemolüne bemollerine 3rd singular bemolüne bemollerine 1st plural bemolümüze bemollerimize 2nd plural bemolünüze bemollerinize 3rd plural bemollerine bemollerine locative singular plural 1st singular bemolümde bemollerimde 2nd singular bemolünde bemollerinde 3rd singular bemolünde bemollerinde 1st plural bemolümüzde bemollerimizde 2nd plural bemolünüzde bemollerinizde 3rd plural bemollerinde bemollerinde ablative singular plural 1st singular bemolümden bemollerimden 2nd singular bemolünden bemollerinden 3rd singular bemolünden bemollerinden 1st plural bemolümüzden bemollerimizden 2nd plural bemolünüzden bemollerinizden 3rd plural bemollerinden bemollerinden genitive singular plural 1st singular bemolümün bemollerimin 2nd singular bemolünün bemollerinin 3rd singular bemolünün bemollerinin 1st plural bemolümüzün bemollerimizin 2nd plural bemolünüzün bemollerinizin 3rd plural bemollerinin bemollerinin

Further reading

• “bemol”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Ayverdi, İlhan (2010), “bemol”, in Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük, a reviewed and expanded single-volume edition, Istanbul: Kubbealtı Neşriyatı