pyknon

English

Alternative forms

• pycnon

Etymology

Ancient Greek πυκνόν (puknón), form of Ancient Greek πυκνός (puknós, “dense, compressed”).

Noun

pyknon (plural pyknons or pykna)

1. (music) The lower part of a tetrachord in Ancient Greek music, consisting of a composite interval (two successive intervals) that is less than the remaining (incomposite) interval.
2. Condensation, density.
3. (biology) A nonrandom pattern of repeated elements, which are found more frequently in the 3′ untranslated regions of genes than in other regions of the human genome. Although it is unclear how pyknons might have arisen, it is possible that they may be involved in a new form of gene regulation.

Related terms

• pyknic

See also

• (music): chromatic, diatonic, enharmonic, genus