What does tuner mean?
A tuner is a person or device that brings something into the desired adjustment. In electronics, the term most often refers to the radio or television component that selects a particular frequency, although modern sets combine this function with the receiver. A musical tuner may be a small device, application, or reference pitch that shows whether a note is correctly set, while a piano tuner is a specialist who adjusts the strings of a piano. More generally, a tuner is someone who makes fine adjustments to equipment or systems. The word is standard in technical, musical, and everyday consumer contexts and is normally countable. Its usefulness lies in naming both the instrument and the craft: the same person who repairs a violin may also tune it, and a modern guitar tuner can turn a difficult tuning task into a quick check. Although “tuner” often implies precision rather than wholesale alteration, it does not necessarily mean expert certification; a tuner may simply be the device used to make the adjustment.
nounA device or person that adjusts something to the required setting, especially the pitch of a musical instrument or the frequency of a radio or television signal. A radio tuner selects a frequency, an instrument tuner indicates or corrects pitch, and a piano tuner is a person who tunes pianos.
- An electronic component, especially in a radio or television, that selects a particular frequency.
- A device, application, or reference instrument used to determine or correct the pitch of a musical instrument.
- A person who adjusts the pitch of musical instruments, especially a piano tuner.
- A person who makes fine adjustments to the settings of equipment or other systems.
"The old radio's tuner drifted, making it difficult to hold the station clearly."
"The technician replaced the faulty radio tuner before checking the signal quality."
"We used a guitar tuner to make sure every string was correctly adjusted before the performance."
Used for multiple radio or television components, musical tuning devices, or people who tune instruments.
"Several piano tuners competed for commissions during the festival season."
Long before electronic radios, a tuner was an entire profession: the specialist who tuned a piano by ear.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tuner come from?
Tuner was formed in English by adding the suffix -er to tune. Tune came into Middle English through Anglo-Norman French ton, ultimately from Latin tonus, a word borrowed from Greek tonos and associated with stretching and pitch. The professional sense developed alongside musical tuning, while the electronic sense arose later with radio equipment; tonal, tonic, and tonality descend from the same ancient root.
How tuner is actually used
Tuner is standard in technical and musical contexts and is normally a countable noun. It may denote either a specialist who makes adjustments or a device used to make them, so the surrounding phrase often determines the sense.
Easily confused with tuner
A tune is the melody or musical arrangement itself, whereas a tuner is the person or device that puts an instrument or signal into the correct adjustment.
A tuner adjusts pitch, frequency, or another setting, while a turner is generally someone or something that turns or rotates.