TONE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does tone mean? 

• TONE (noun)
  The noun TONE has 10 senses:

1. the quality of a person's voice

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

3. (music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound)

4. the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people

5. a quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color

6. a notation representing the pitch and duration of a musical sound

7. a steady sound without overtones

8. the elastic tension of living muscles, arteries, etc. that facilitate response to stimuli

9. a musical interval of two semitones

10. the quality of something (an act or a piece of writing) that reveals the attitudes and presuppositions of the author

  Familiarity information: TONE used as a noun is familiar.

• TONE (verb)
  The verb TONE has 5 senses:

1. utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically

2. vary the pitch of one's speech

3. change the color or tone of

4. change to a color image

5. give a healthy elasticity to

  Familiarity information: TONE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TONE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The quality of a person's voice

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

tone; tone of voice

Context example:

he spoke in a nervous tone of voice

Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):

delivery; manner of speaking; speech (your characteristic style or manner of expressing yourself orally)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tone"):

note (a tone of voice that shows what the speaker is feeling)

rotundity; roundness (the fullness of a tone of voice)

undertone (a quiet or hushed tone of voice)

Derivation:

intonate (speak carefully, as with rising and falling pitch or in a particular tone)

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

the Beijing dialect uses four tones

Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):

pitch (the property of sound that varies with variation in the frequency of vibration)

Domain category:

linguistics (the scientific study of language)

Derivation:

intonate (speak carefully, as with rising and falling pitch or in a particular tone)

tonal (employing variations in pitch to distinguish meanings of otherwise similar words)

tone (vary the pitch of one's speech)

tonic (employing variations in pitch to distinguish meanings of otherwise similar words)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

quality; timber; timbre; tone

Context example:

the muffled tones of the broken bell summoned them to meet

Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):

sound property (an attribute of sound)

Domain category:

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tone"):

harmonic (any of a series of musical tones whose frequencies are integral multiples of the frequency of a fundamental)

resonance (the quality imparted to voiced speech sounds by the action of the resonating chambers of the throat and mouth and nasal cavities)

color; coloration; colour; colouration (the timbre of a musical sound)

nasality (a quality of the voice that is produced by nasal resonators)

plangency; resonance; reverberance; ringing; sonority; sonorousness; vibrancy (having the character of a loud deep sound; the quality of being resonant)

shrillness; stridence; stridency (having the timbre of a loud high-pitched sound)

register ((music) the timbre that is characteristic of a certain range and manner of production of the human voice or of different pipe organ stops or of different musical instruments)

Derivation:

tonal (having tonality; i.e. tones and chords organized in relation to one tone such as a keynote or tonic)

tone (vary the pitch of one's speech)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

feel; feeling; flavor; flavour; look; smell; spirit; tone

Context example:

it had the smell of treason

Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):

ambiance; ambience; atmosphere (a particular environment or surrounding influence)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tone"):

Hollywood (a flashy vulgar tone or atmosphere believed to be characteristic of the American film industry)

Zeitgeist (the spirit of the time; the spirit characteristic of an age or generation)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

shade; tincture; tint; tone

Context example:

after several trials he mixed the shade of pink that she wanted

Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):

color; coloring; colour; colouring (a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tone"):

richness (a strong deep vividness of hue)

mellowness (a soft shade of a color)

tinge; undertone (a pale or subdued color)

Derivation:

tone (change the color or tone of)

tone (change to a color image)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A notation representing the pitch and duration of a musical sound

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

musical note; note; tone

Context example:

the singer held the note too long

Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):

musical notation ((music) notation used by musicians)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tone"):

chord (a combination of three or more notes that blend harmoniously when sounded together)

passing note; passing tone (a nonharmonic note inserted for transition between harmonic notes)

semibreve; whole note (a musical note having the longest time value (equal to four beats in common time))

half note; minim (a musical note having the time value of half a whole note)

crotchet; quarter note (a musical note having the time value of a quarter of a whole note)

eighth note; quaver (a musical note having the time value of an eighth of a whole note)

semiquaver; sixteenth note (a musical note having the time value of a sixteenth of a whole note)

demisemiquaver; thirty-second note (a musical note having the time value of a thirty-second of a whole note)

hemidemisemiquaver; sixty-fourth note (a musical note having the time value of a sixty-fourth of a whole note)

acciaccatura; appoggiatura; grace note (an embellishing note usually written in smaller size)

blue note (a flattened third or seventh)

monotone (a single tone repeated with different words or different rhythms (especially in rendering liturgical texts))

shake; trill (a note that alternates rapidly with another note a semitone above it)

pedal; pedal point (a sustained bass note)

leading tone; subtonic ((music) the seventh note of the diatonic scale)

submediant ((music) the sixth note of a major or minor scale (or the third below the tonic))

dominant ((music) the fifth note of the diatonic scale)

subdominant ((music) the fourth note of the diatonic scale)

mediant ((music) the third note of a diatonic scale; midway between the tonic and the dominant)

supertonic ((music) the second note of a diatonic scale)

keynote; tonic ((music) the first note of a diatonic scale)

middle C (the note designated by the first ledger line below the treble staff; 261.63 hertz)

Holonyms ("tone" is a member of...):

musical scale; scale ((music) a series of notes differing in pitch according to a specific scheme (usually within an octave))

Derivation:

tonic (relating to or being the keynote of a major or minor scale)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A steady sound without overtones

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

pure tone; tone

Context example:

they tested his hearing with pure tones of different frequencies

Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):

auditory sensation; sound (the subjective sensation of hearing something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tone"):

harmonic (a tone that is a component of a complex sound)

Derivation:

tonal (having tonality; i.e. tones and chords organized in relation to one tone such as a keynote or tonic)

Sense 8

Meaning:

The elastic tension of living muscles, arteries, etc. that facilitate response to stimuli

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

tone; tonicity; tonus

Context example:

the doctor tested my tonicity

Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):

tautness; tenseness; tension; tensity (the physical condition of being stretched or strained)

Domain category:

muscle; muscular tissue (animal tissue consisting predominantly of contractile cells)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tone"):

catatonia (extreme tonus; muscular rigidity; a common symptom in catatonic schizophrenia)

muscle tone; muscular tonus (normal tonicity of the muscles)

myotonia (abnormally long muscular contractions; slow relaxation of a muscle after a contraction)

hypertonia; hypertonicity; hypertonus ((of muscular tissue) the state of being hypertonic)

hypotonia; hypotonicity; hypotonus ((of muscular tissue) the state of being hypotonic)

Derivation:

tone (give a healthy elasticity to)

tonic (of or relating to or producing normal tone or tonus in muscles or tissue)

Sense 9

Meaning:

A musical interval of two semitones

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

step; tone; whole step; whole tone

Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):

interval; musical interval (the difference in pitch between two notes)

Sense 10

Meaning:

The quality of something (an act or a piece of writing) that reveals the attitudes and presuppositions of the author

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

from the tone of her behavior I gathered that I had outstayed my welcome

Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):

quality (an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone)

• TONE (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

chant; intone; tone

Context example:

The students chanted the same slogan over and over again

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

mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Vary the pitch of one's speech

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

inflect; modulate; tone

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

mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

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

tone ((music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Change the color or tone of

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

tone a negative

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

color; colour; discolor; discolour (change color, often in an undesired manner)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

tone (a quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color)

toner (a black or colored powder used in a printer to develop a xerographic image)

toner (a solution containing chemicals that can change the color of a photographic print)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Change to a color image

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

tone a photographic image

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

color; color in; colorise; colorize; colour; colour in; colourise; colourize (add color to)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

tone (a quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color)

toner (a solution containing chemicals that can change the color of a photographic print)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Give a healthy elasticity to

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

strengthen; tone; tone up

Context example:

Let's tone our muscles

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

exercise; work out (do physical exercise)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

tone (the elastic tension of living muscles, arteries, etc. that facilitate response to stimuli)

 Context examples 

Her tone expressed her entire indifference; she addressed me in English, and the voice struck me as one that I had heard during my sufferings.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

“There's a breeze coming, Jim,” said Silver, who had by this time adopted quite a friendly and familiar tone.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

"Is there no one to help me?" were the first words which burst from Captain Wentworth, in a tone of despair, and as if all his own strength were gone.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

He only smiled in his beard and repeated "Really! Really!" in the pitying tone one would use to a child.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Jo wanted me to come, and tell her how you looked, so I did," answered Laurie, without turning his eyes upon her, though he half smiled at her maternal tone.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“It remains as it was, I suppose?” said she, in a tone of feeling.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

And then changing his tone again to one of gentle gallantry, and addressing Fanny, he said, You were Mr. Rushworth's best friend.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

“Pshaw! fear not,” the other answered in the same low tone.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"That fool One Ear don't seem scairt much," Bill said in a low tone.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

“So I have,” said he, and it was awful to hear the tones that he said it in.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)