tone
English[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English ton, tone, from Latin tonus (“sound, tone”) (possibly through Old French ton[1]), from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos, “strain, tension, pitch”), from τείνω (teínō, “I stretch”). Doublet of tune, ton, and tonus.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
tone (plural tones)
- (music) A specific pitch.
- (music) (in the diatonic scale) An interval of a major second.
- (music) (in a Gregorian chant) A recitational melody.
- The character of a sound, especially the timbre of an instrument or voice.
- General character, mood, or trend.
- Her rousing speech gave an upbeat tone to the rest of the evening.
- (linguistics) The pitch of a word that distinguishes a difference in meaning, for example in Chinese.
- (dated) A whining style of speaking; a kind of mournful or artificial strain of voice; an affected speaking with a measured rhythm and a regular rise and fall of the voice.
- Children often read with a tone.
- (literature) The manner in which speech or writing is expressed.
- 1850, William Cullen Bryant, Letters of a Traveller
- Their tone was dissatisfied, almost menacing.
- 1850, William Cullen Bryant, Letters of a Traveller
- (obsolete) State of mind; temper; mood.
- c. 1714 (undated), Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, letter to Alexander Pope
- The strange situation I am in and the melancholy state of public affairs, […] drag the mind down […] from a philosophical tone or temper, to the drudgery of private and public business.
- c. 1714 (undated), Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, letter to Alexander Pope
- The shade or quality of a colour.
- 2017, Adam Rutherford, A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, The Experiment, →ISBN, page 81:
- We make crude visual distinctions and effectively meaningless categorizations based on average skin tones, such as black or white.
- The favourable effect of a picture produced by the combination of light and shade, or of colours.
- This picture has tone.
- The definition and firmness of a muscle or organ; see also: tonus.
- (biology) The state of a living body or of any of its organs or parts in which the functions are healthy and performed with due vigor.
- (biology) Normal tension or responsiveness to stimuli.
- (African-American Vernacular, slang) a gun
- 1993, 8Ball (lyrics), “9 Little Millimeta Boys”, in Comin’ Out Hard:
- But nigga don't step wrong, cuz 8ball keep a tone
- 1994, Princess Loko (lyrics), “Murda In Da 1st Degree”, in Ashes 2 Ashes, Dust 2 Dust:
- M.A.C.T.D.O.G got the tone so hoe you know it's on
- 2011, Project Pat (lyrics), “Dollar Signs (Remix)”, in Loud pack:
- Got the tone to ya head yo life flashing right front your eyes
Synonyms[edit]
- (an interval of a major second): whole tone
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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Verb[edit]
tone (third-person singular simple present tones, present participle toning, simple past and past participle toned)
- (transitive) to give a particular tone to
- (transitive) to change the colour of
- (transitive) to make (something) firmer
- (intransitive) to harmonize, especially in colour
- (transitive) to utter with an affected tone.
Synonyms[edit]
- (give a particular tone to):
- (change the colour of): color/colour, dye, paint, tint
- (make firmer): firm, firm up, tone up
- (harmonize): harmonise/harmonize
- (utter with an affected tone):
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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Etymology 2[edit]
From Middle English tone, ton, toon, from the incorrect division of thet one (“the/that one”). Compare Scots tane in the tane; see also tother.
Pronoun[edit]
tone
Further reading[edit]
- tone in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- tone in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
References[edit]
Anagrams[edit]
Afrikaans[edit]
Noun[edit]
tone
Danish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old Norse tóni, from Latin tonus (“sound, tone”), from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos, “strain, tension, pitch”), from τείνω (teínō, “I stretch”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
tone c (singular definite tonen, plural indefinite toner)
Declension[edit]
Verb[edit]
tone (imperative ton, infinitive at tone, present tense toner, past tense tonede, perfect tense har tonet)
References[edit]
- “tone” in Den Danske Ordbog
Dutch[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (file)
Verb[edit]
tone
Anagrams[edit]
Latin[edit]
Noun[edit]
tone
Middle English[edit]
Pronoun[edit]
tone
- the one (of two)
- a. 1472, Thomas Malory, “Capitulum lxiij”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book X, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, OCLC 71490786; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, OCLC 890162034:
- So wythin the thirde day, there cam to the cité thes two brethirne: the tone hyght Sir Helyus and the other hyght Helake
Norwegian Bokmål[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old Norse tóni, from Latin tonus (“sound, tone”), from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos, “strain, tension, pitch”), from τείνω (teínō, “I stretch”).
Noun[edit]
tone m (definite singular tonen, indefinite plural toner, definite plural tonene)
- a tone (sound, colour etc.)
Derived terms[edit]
References[edit]
- “tone” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old Norse tóni, from Latin tonus (“sound, tone”), from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos, “strain, tension, pitch”), from τείνω (teínō, “I stretch”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
tone m (definite singular tonen, indefinite plural tonar, definite plural tonane)
- a tone (sound, colour etc.)
Derived terms[edit]
References[edit]
- “tone” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Tokelauan[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
tone
Alternative forms[edit]
References[edit]
- R. Simona, editor (1986) Tokelau Dictionary[2], Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 397
Swahili[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (Kenya) (file)
Noun[edit]
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English doublets
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Music
- en:Linguistics
- English dated terms
- en:Literature
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms with quotations
- en:Biology
- African-American Vernacular English
- English slang
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English pronouns
- English dialectal terms
- English rebracketings
- Afrikaans non-lemma forms
- Afrikaans noun plural forms
- Danish terms inherited from Old Norse
- Danish terms derived from Old Norse
- Danish terms derived from Latin
- Danish terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Danish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Danish lemmas
- Danish nouns
- Danish common-gender nouns
- Danish verbs
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Dutch non-lemma forms
- Dutch verb forms
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin noun forms
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English pronouns
- Middle English terms with quotations
- Norwegian Bokmål terms inherited from Old Norse
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Old Norse
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål masculine nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms inherited from Old Norse
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Old Norse
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Norwegian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk masculine nouns
- Tokelauan terms borrowed from English
- Tokelauan terms derived from English
- Tokelauan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Tokelauan lemmas
- Tokelauan nouns
- tkl:Units of measure
- Swahili terms with audio links
- Swahili lemmas
- Swahili nouns
- Swahili ma class nouns