tonus

English

Etymology

From Latin tonus (“a sound, tone”). See tone.

Noun

tonus (countable and uncountable; plural tonuses)

1. (biology) tonicity; tone

   muscular tonus

   • 1956, Personal character and cultural milieu: a collection of readings

     Dr. H. S. Sullivan, for example, is known to many for his acute understanding of the postural tonuses of his patients.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

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French

Noun

tonus m (invariable)

1. muscle tone, tonicity, tonus
2. (by extension) energy, strength

Related terms

• tonicité
• tonifier

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Latin

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Ancient Greek τόνος (tonos, “tone”), from τείνω (teinō, “I stretch”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA: /ˈto.nus/

Noun

tonus (genitive tonī); m, second declension

1. The stretching or straining of a rope.
2. (by extension) A strain; tension.
3. (figuratively) The pitch, sound or tone of something.
4. (figuratively) A crack of thunder.

Inflection

Number	Singular	Plural
nominative	tonus	tonī
genitive	tonī	tonōrum
dative	tonō	tonīs
accusative	tonum	tonōs
ablative	tonō	tonīs
vocative	tone	tonī

Descendants

Catalan: to, tro Dalmatian: tun English: ton, tone, tune French: ton Friulian: ton Italian: tono, tuono Occitan: ton, tron

Portuguese: tom, trom Romanian: tun Romansch: tun, tung Russian: тонус, тон Sardinian: tronu Sicilian: tronu Spanish: tono, trueno

References

• tonus in Charlton T. Lewis & Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879