Limma

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

• The original Pythagorean limma, 256/243, a Pythagorean interval ( play ).
• The 5-limit limma (now a diesis), 128/125, the amount by which three just major thirds fall short of an octave ( play ).
• The major limma, 135/128, which is the difference between two major whole tones and a minor third ( play ).
• The 5-limit diatonic semitone, 16/15 ( play ). 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.