monotony

English

Etymology

From the post-Classical Latin monotonia and its etymon the Ancient Greek μονοτονία (monotonia, “sameness of tone”, “monotony”); compare the French monotonie and the Italian monotonia, as well as the later English monotone.

Pronunciation

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Noun

monotony (plural monotonies)

1. Tedium as a result of repetition or a lack of variety.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 1, Through the Magic Door^[1]:

     Yet second-hand romance and second-hand emotion are surely better than the dull, soul-killing monotony which life brings to most of the human race.

2. (mathematics) The property of a monotonic function.
3. The quality of having an unvarying tone or pitch.

Derived terms

• monotone
• monotonous

Translations

tedium

Danish: monotoni (da) German: Eintönigkeit (de) f., Monotonie (de) f.

Greenlandic: assigiiaamik periaaseqarneq (kl) Romanian: monotonie (ro)

property of mathematical function

German: Monotonie (de) f. Icelandic: einhalli (is) m.

Romanian: monotonie (ro)

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Translations to be checked

Dutch: eentonigheid (nl) f. Spanish: monotonía f.