tone

pronunciation

How to pronounce tone in British English: UK [təʊn] word uk audio image

How to pronounce tone in American English: US [toʊn] word us audio image

Noun:

the quality of a person's voice
(linguistics) a pitch or change in pitch of the voice that serves to distinguish words in tonal languages
(music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound)
the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people
a quality of a given color that differs slightly from a primary color
a notation representing the pitch and duration of a musical sound
a steady sound without overtones
the elastic tension of living muscles, arteries, etc. that facilitate response to stimuli
a musical interval of two semitones
the quality of something (an act or a piece of writing) that reveals the attitudes and presuppositions of the author
Verb:

utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically
of one's speech, varying the pitch
change the color or tone of
change to a color image
give a healthy elasticity to

Word Origin

tone: tone: [14] English acquired tone via Old French ton and Latin tonus from Greek tónos ‘stretching, tension’, hence ‘sound’. This in turn went back to the Indo-European base *ton-, *ten- ‘stretch’, which also produced English tend, tense, thin, etc. The semantic transference from ‘tension’ to ‘sound’ may have arisen from the notion of tightening the strings of a musical instrument, but it could also be due to association with another Indo-European base *ton-, meaning ‘resound’ (source of English thunder). The derivative tonic [17] comes ultimately from Greek tonikós. Tune is an unexplained variant of tone.=> tend, tense, tenuous, thin, tune

tone (n.): mid-14c., "musical sound or note," from Old French ton "musical sound, speech, words" (13c.) and directly from Latin tonus "a sound, tone, accent," literally "stretching" (in Medieval Latin, a term peculiar to music), from Greek tonos "vocal pitch, raising of voice, accent, key in music," originally "a stretching, tightening, taut string," related to teinein "to stretch" (see tenet). Sense of "manner of speaking" is from c. 1600. First reference to firmness of body is from 1660s. As "prevailing state of manners" from 1735; as "style in speaking or writing which reveals attitude" from 1765. Tone-deaf is from 1880; tone-poem from 1845.

tone (v.): "to impart tone to," 1811, from tone (n.). Related: Toned; toning. To tone (something) down originally was in painting (1831); general sense of "reduce, moderate" is by 1847.