monotone

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Adjective 1.3.1 Translations 1.4 Noun 1.4.1 Derived terms 2 French 2.1 Pronunciation 2.2 Adjective 3 Italian 3.1 Adjective

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From monotony.

[edit] Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈmɒnətəʊn/
• (US) IPA: /ˈmɑːnətoʊn/

[edit] Adjective

monotone (comparative more monotone, superlative most monotone)

1. (of speech or a sound) having a single unvaried pitch
   • 1799, John Walker, Elements of Elocution, Cooper and Wilson, page 309:

     It is no very difficult matter to be loud in a high tone of voice; but to be loud and forcible in a low tone, requires great practice and management; this, however, may be facilitated by pronouncing forcibly at firſt in a low monotone; a monotone, though in a low key, and without force, is much more ſonorous and audible than when the voice ſlides up and down at almoſt every word, as it muſt do to be various.

   • 1940, Asiatic Society (Calcutta, Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, India), Journal of the Asiatic Society, page 95:

     The prominence of the syllables is more monotone than in English, the intonation of the latter having a larger variation of stressed and unstressed syllables.

   • 1998, Roger W. Shuy, Bureaucratic Language in Government and Business, Georgetown University Press, Research on Telephone vs. In-Person Administrative Hearings, page 76:

     In the formal register, such variation is reduced and the talk has a more monotone, business-like quality.

2. (of mathematics) property of a function to be either decreasing or increasing
   • The function f(x): = x³ is monotone while g(x): = x² is not.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Noun

monotone (plural monotones)

1. A single unvaried tone of speech or a sound

   When Tima felt like her parents were treating her like a servant, she would speak in monotone and act as though she were a robot.

[edit] Derived terms

• monotonic
• monotonous
• monotony

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[edit] French

[edit] Pronunciation

•  audio^{help, file}
• IPA: /mɔnɔtɔn/

[edit] Adjective

monotone m. (f. monotone, m. plural monotones, f. plural monotones)

1. Monotone
2. Whose speech is monotone.
3. Boring due to uniformity or lack of variety; monotonous.

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[edit] Italian

[edit] Adjective

monotone f.

1. Feminine plural form of monotono