(mathematics, geometry) The difference between two quantities or lengths commensurable only in power, as between 1 and the square root of 2, or between the diagonal and side of a square.
- 2014, Jacques Sesiano (translator), Liber Mahameleth, Part Two: Translation, Glossary, [12th c, Anonymous (possibly John of Seville), Liber Mahameleth], Springer, page 767,
If some number and the root of the root of a number are multiplied by the corresponding apotome, the result will be an apotome.
(music) The remaining part of a whole tone after a minor second has been deducted from it; an augmented unison. Most commonly used to refer to the Pythagorean chromatic semitone, which has a ratio of 2187/2048.
- 1813, Music, article in John Mason Good, Olinthus Gregory, Newton Bosworth, Pantologia: A New Cyclopaedia, Volume 8: MID—OZO, unnumbered page,
This semitone was termed by the Pythagoreans apotome, and the diatonic semitone was termed limma. They contended, that the apotome, or distance from B flat to B natural, was larger than the limma, or distance from A to B flat.
(zoology) A distinct division of an insect which is divided from the other divisions by a pinch point.