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The imitation of the fugue subject by the second voice, typically at the fifth above (dominant). A "real" answer is exact transposition; a "tonal" answer adjusts intervals to stay within the key.
Decide whether your subject needs a real or tonal answer. If the subject prominently features the fifth degree, a tonal answer (adjusting the fifth to the tonic) prevents the music from modulating too far. Most subjects that begin or end on the dominant need tonal answers.
Bach, The Art of Fugue, Contrapunctus 1: the subject opens with a leap from tonic up to dominant (D to A); the answer replies from dominant up to tonic (A to D) — a tonal answer, which keeps the exposition anchored in D minor.
Answer is one of 1760 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
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