Limma

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The word limma or leimma can refer to several different musical intervals, whose only common property is their small size:

• The original Pythagorean limma, 256/243, discussed at Pythagorean interval.

• The 5-limit limma, 128/125, the amount by which three just major thirds fall short of an octave.

• The major limma, 135/128, which is the difference between two major whole tones and a minor third.

• The 5-limit diatonic semitone, 16/15. Although closer in size to the Pythagorean apotome than to the limma, it has been so called because of its function as a diatonic semitone rather than a chromatic one.