Definition of "tonal"

tonal¹

/ˈtoʊnəl/

adjective
comparative more tonal, superlative most tonal
1. Of or relating to tones or tonality.
2. Of or relating to the general character, mood, or trend of something.
  Quotations
  The lurid way the story played out felt like a tonal shift for Empire, but not necessarily a bad one—in the process of shedding its cool costume-drama attitude for grotesque family dysfunction, the episode felt for once less like a story about Prohibition and more one about a specific set of people.
  2011 December 5, James Poniewozik, “Boardwalk Empire Watch: Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?”, in Time‎
3. (music) Employing tones that have a predictable relationship to some tonic.
4. (linguistics) Employing differences in pitch (tones) to distinguish differences in the meaning of otherwise similar words (words which would otherwise be homophonic).

tonal²

/ˈtoʊnəl/

noun
plural tonals
1. (in Mesoamerican mythology) An animal companion which accompanies a person from birth to death.
  Quotations
  When a tonal suffers misfortune or death, the same thing happens to the person associated with it.
  1989, Robert Bartley Taylor, Indians of Middle America: an introduction to the ethnology of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, page 122