( music) the first note of a diatonic scale

  A ruling principle or sentiment.

  give the keynote address to ( an audience)

  a fundamental or central idea

  The tonic or first tone of the scale in which a piece or passage is written; the fundamental tone of the chord, to which all the modulations of the piece are referred; - called also key tone.

  The basal note in a system of musical notes; ruling principle.

  The tonic of a key, from which it is named.

  the principal theme in a speech or literary work

  The fundamental fact or idea; that which gives the key; as, the keynote of a policy or a sermon.

  In homeopathy, one of the characteristic symptoms of a drug, serving as a guide for the exhibition of the remedy when a similar symptom occurs in disease.

  The fundamental note.

  Fundamental note of a given scale or musical piece.

  set the keynote of; " Comfort keynotes this designer's Fall collection"

  The key or fundamental note of a piece of music.

Sex appeal is the keynote of our civilization. – Henri Bergson

Orrin Hatch was the keynote speaker at the last meeting of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. He sought me out because he was a fan. I was thinking he had confused me with someone else. – Ted Rall

“ The keynote of the little book was that knowledge of nature could be gained only by observation and experiment, and that for these the ordinary things in the world around us provided ample material. ” – Thomas Henry Huxley; A Sketch Of His Life And Work by P. Chalmers Mitchell

“ It is also a part of the decorative scheme, and as such must help to furnish the keynote of our plans. ” – The Complete Home by Various

“ This same selfishness has been the keynote of her policy down to the present day, except as the force of circumstances has modified it. ” – The Complete Essays of C. D. Warner by Charles Dudley Warner

“ The voices were those of Mrs. Goring and Leyden, and anger was the keynote of the discussion. ” – Gold Out of Celebes by Aylward Edward Dingle

“ What is the keynote to good breeding? ” – Entertainments for Home, Church and School by Frederica Seeger

“ The keynote of Dewey's new psychology is a process of selection constantly occurring within the individual organism. ” – John Dewey's logical theory by Delton Thomas Howard

“ The keynote of the whole movement is the protection of the weak. ” – Problems of Poverty by John A. Hobson

“ This was the keynote of " The Chimes." ” – Life of Charles Dickens by Frank Marzials

“ Conquest was not a familiar word in the vocabulary of James Madison, and he may well have prayed to be delivered from the hands of his friends, if this was to be the keynote of their defense of his policy in West Florida. ” – Jefferson and his Colleagues A Chronicle of the Virginia Dynasty, Volume 15 In The Chronicles Of America Series by Allen Johnson

“ Ambition was the keynote of his life; not an unworthy keynote by any means, if only the ambition be sound; but one serious defect of Columbus's ambition was that it was retrospective rather than perspective. ” – Christopher Columbus, Complete by Filson Young

“ Instead of the ignoble belief that we can fling our sins upon another it makes personal responsibility the keynote of life. ” – Elementary Theosophy by L. W. Rogers

“ It was the keynote to the Imperialist hopes. ” – The Missourian by Eugene P. (Eugene Percy) Lyle

“ The splendour was thine own, The rapture mine; and Doubt was overthrown, And Grief forgot the keynote of its threne. ” – Love Letters of a Violinist and Other Poems by Eric Mackay

“ Any failure in Art cannot rouse us to this pitch; our sensitive, appreciative spirits would assuredly flag unless some keynote of resonant power were sounded. ” – Original Letters and Biographic Epitomes by J. Atwood.Slater

“ The Collect of Complete Confidence, with its Verse and Respond, is placed here to strike the keynote of the Section: and the Section is filled up from the Occasional Prayers, or from the Collects after the Communion Service. ” – The Prayer Book Explained by Percival Jackson

“ Indeed, the keynote of government is injustice. ” – Anarchism and Other Essays by Emma Goldman

“ Ambition, she said, with a slow emphasis, is the keynote of Mr. Quarrier's character. ” – Denzil Quarrier by George Gissing

“ He was a painter of much culture, and the keynote of his art is refinement. ” – A Text-Book of the History of Painting by John C. Van Dyke

“ What is the keynote to good manners? ” – Games For All Occasions by Mary E. Blain

“ From this point of view the first verse strikes the keynote of the whole. ” – Mr. Gladstone and Genesis Essay #5 from "Science and Hebrew Tradition" by Thomas Henry Huxley