INTONATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does intonate mean? 

• INTONATE (verb)
  The verb INTONATE has 2 senses:

1. speak carefully, as with rising and falling pitch or in a particular tone

2. recite with musical intonation; recite as a chant or a psalm

  Familiarity information: INTONATE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INTONATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they intonate    ... he / she / it intonates   
Past simple: intonated   
Past participle: intonated   
-ing form: intonating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Speak carefully, as with rising and falling pitch or in a particular tone

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

intonate; intone

Context example:

please intonate with sadness

Hypernyms (to "intonate" is one way to...):

judge; label; pronounce (pronounce judgment on)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

intonation (rise and fall of the voice pitch)

tone ((linguistics) a pitch or change in pitch of the voice that serves to distinguish words in tonal languages)

tone (the quality of a person's voice)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Recite with musical intonation; recite as a chant or a psalm

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

cantillate; chant; intonate; intone

Context example:

The rabbi chanted a prayer

Hypernyms (to "intonate" is one way to...):

sing (produce tones with the voice)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "intonate"):

singsong (speak, chant, or declaim in a singsong)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

intonation (the production of musical tones (by voice or instrument); especially the exactitude of the pitch relations)

intonation (the act of singing in a monotonous tone)

intonation (singing by a soloist of the opening piece of plainsong)

intonation (rise and fall of the voice pitch)