tone

Meaning

Noun

1. A specific pitch.
2. (in the diatonic scale) An interval of a major second.
3. (in a Gregorian chant) A recitational melody.
4. The character of a sound, especially the timbre of an instrument or voice.
5. The pitch of a word's sound that distinguishes a difference in meaning, as for example in Chinese.
6. 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.
7. The manner in which speech or writing is expressed, especially the aspects of diction (word choice), connotation, emotiveness, and register.
8. (obsolete) State of mind; temper; mood.
9. The shade or quality of a colour.
10. The favourable effect of a picture produced by the combination of light and shade, or of colours.
11. The definition and firmness of a muscle or organ; see also: tonus.
12. 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.
13. Normal tension or responsiveness to stimuli.
14. (slang) a gun
15. The general character, atmosphere, mood, or vibe (of a situation, place, etc.).
16. The quality of being respectable or admirable.

Verb

1. to give a particular tone to
2. to change the colour of
3. to make (something) firmer
4. to utter with an affected tone.

Pron

the one (of two)

Pronounced as (IPA)

/təʊn/

Etymology

From Middle English ton, tone, from Latin tonus (“sound, tone”) (possibly through Old French ton), from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos, “strain, tension, pitch”), from τείνω (teínō, “I stretch”). Doublet of tune, ton, tonos, and tonus.

Sentences

‘I only wish I had such eyes , ’ the King remarked in a fretful tone .