Dictionary Definition
tone
Noun
1 the quality of a person's voice; "he began in a
conversational tone"; "he spoke in a nervous tone of voice" [syn:
tone
of voice]
2 (linguistics) a pitch or change in pitch of the
voice that serves to distinguish words in tonal languages; "the
Beijing dialect uses four tones"
3 (music) the distinctive property of a complex
sound (a voice or noise or musical sound); "the timbre of her
soprano was rich and lovely"; "the muffled tones of the broken bell
summoned them to meet" [syn: timbre, timber, quality]
4 the general atmosphere of a place or situation
and the effect that it has on people; "the feel of the city excited
him"; "a clergyman improved the tone of the meeting"; "it had the
smell of treason" [syn: spirit, feel, feeling, flavor, flavour, look, smell]
5 a quality of a given color that differs
slightly from a primary color; "after several trials he mixed the
shade of pink that she wanted" [syn: shade, tint, tincture]
6 a notation representing the pitch and duration
of a musical sound; "the singer held the note too long" [syn:
note, musical
note]
7 a steady sound without overtones; "they tested
his hearing with pure tones of different frequencies" [syn:
pure
tone]
8 the elastic tension of living muscles,
arteries, etc. that facilitate response to stimuli; "the doctor
tested my tonicity" [syn: tonicity, tonus] [ant: atonicity]
10 the quality of something (an act or a piece of
writing) that reveals the attitudes and presuppositions of the
author; "the general tone of articles appearing in the newspapers
is that the government should withdraw"; "from the tone of her
behavior I gathered that I had outstayed my welcome"
Verb
1 utter monotonously and repetitively and
rhythmically; "The students chanted the same slogan over and over
again" [syn: chant,
intone]
3 change the color or tone of; "tone a
negative"
4 change to a color image; "tone a photographic
image"
5 give a healthy elasticity to; "Let's tone our
muscles" [syn: tone up, strengthen]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Noun
- a specific pitch,
- (in the diatonic scale) an interval of a major second
- (in a Gregorian chant) a recitational melody
- the character of a sound, especially the timbre of an instrument or voice
- the pitch of a word that distinguishes a difference in meaning, for example in Chinese
- the manner in which speech or writing is expressed
- the shade or quality of a colour
- the definition and firmness of a muscle or organ
Related terms
Translations
specific pitch, quality and duration; a note
an interval of a major second
character of a sound, especially the timbre of
an instrument or voice
pitch of a word that distinguishes a difference
in meaning
manner in which speech or writing is expressed
shade or quality of a colour
firmness of a muscle or organ
- Danish: tonus, spændingstilstand
- Lithuanian: tonusas
- Russian: тонус (tónus)
sheets of sticky plastic with dots printed on
them used to create comic books
Verb
- to give a particular tone to
- to change the colour of
- to make (something) firmer
- to harmonize, especially in colour
Synonyms
Translations
change the colour of
harmonize, especially in colour
- Danish: harmonisere
- Russian: гармонировать (garmonírovat’)
Anagrams
Swahili
Noun
toneExtensive Definition
Tone may refer to:
Music
Theory
- Pitch (music), the perceived frequency of a note or sound (see also pure tone)
- Note, the name of a pitch
- Whole tone, or major second, a commonly occurring musical interval
- Timbre, the quality of a musical note or sound that distinguishes different types of sound production
- Gregorian chant#Melodic types reciting formulas such as Psalm tone and Recitative
Other
Language and writing
- Tone (linguistics), the use of pitch in language to distinguish words
- Tone (literature), the mood or feeling of a literary work
Telephone and electronics
- Dial tone, a signal indicating that the exchange is ready to accept a call
- Dual-tone multi-frequency, a dialing system also known as Touch-Tone
- Ringtone, the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming call
- Tone control circuits, used to modify an audio signal before it is fed to speakers, headphones or recording devices by way of an amplifier
Geography
- River Tone, Somerset, England
- Tone River, Kanto region, Japan
- Tone, Ibaraki, Japan
- Tone District, Gunma, Japan
- Tône, a prefecture in Togo
Ships
Physiology
- Muscle tone, the state of tension or responsiveness of the organs or tissues of the body.
- Toning exercises, the use of exercise to develop hard, but not necessarily large, musculature
People
- Tone Loc, American hip hop artist and actor
- Franchot Tone, American actor
- Theobald Wolfe Tone, Irish republican
- Tone Tone, American hip hop artist
- Tony, A popular Western Name
tone in German: Tone
tone in Modern Greek (1453-): Τόνος (ήχος)
tone in Hebrew: טון
tone in Italian: Tono (disambigua)
tone in Slovak: Tone
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
French pitch, Munsell chroma, Zeitgeist, accent, accidental, achromatism, action, actions, activity, acts, adaptability, address, affect, affectation, air, algorithm, anagnorisis, angle, apply paint, approach, architectonics, architecture, argument, arrangement, aspect, atmosphere, attack, attitude, audio frequency,
aura, background, balance, bearing, bedaub, bedizen, beef, beefiness, begild, behavior, behavior pattern,
behavioral norm, behavioral science, bend, besmear, bias, blend, body-build, bounce, bounciness, brand, brawn, brawniness, breve, brighten up, brightness, brush on paint,
brushwork, buoyance, buoyancy, calcimine, carriage, cast, catastrophe, character, characteristic, characteristics,
characterization,
chroma, chromatic color,
chromaticity,
chromatism, chromism, classical pitch,
climate, coat, color, color balance, color
harmony, color quality, color scheme, coloration, colorimetric
quality, coloring,
complexion, complication, comportment, composition, conduct, consecutive intervals,
constituents,
constitution,
continuity, contrivance, cool color,
course, cover, crasis, crotchet, cue, culture pattern, current, custom, dab, dampen, daub, decorator color, deep-dye,
degree, demeanor, demisemiquaver, denouement, deportment, depth, design, development, device, dharma, diapason, diatessaron, diathesis, diatonic interval,
diatonic semitone, dip,
direction, dispose, disposition, distemper, doing, doings, dominant, dominant note, double
whole note, double-dye, draftsmanship, drift, dulcetness, dull, dye, eighth note, elasticity, emblazon, emphasis, enamel, engild, enharmonic, enharmonic
diesis, enharmonic interval, enharmonic note, episode, ethos, extensibility, fable, face, falling action, fashion, fast-dye, feel, feeling, fiber, fifth, flat, flexibility, folkway, force, form, fourth, frame, frame of mind, frequency, fresco, freshen up, fullness, fundamental, fundamental
tone, genius, gestures, gild, gimmick, give, glacial movement, glaze, gloss, goings-on, grain, grouping, guise, habit, half note, half step,
halftone, harmonic, heart, heftiness, height, hemidemisemiquaver,
high pitch, hue, humor, humors, huskiness, ilk, illuminate, imbue, incident, incline, induce, inflection, influence, ingrain, interval, intonation, intonation
pattern, involuntary muscle, japan, key, kind, lacquer, lay on color, lead, less semitone, lightness, limber up, line, line of action, lines, liveliness, local color, low
pitch, main current, mainstream, maintien, makeup, manner, manner of speaking,
manner of working, manners, means, mellifluence, mellifluousness, melodic
interval, melodiousness, melody, method, methodology, methods, mien, milieu, mind, minim, mode, mode of expression, mode of
operation, mode of procedure, moderate, modify, modulate, modulation, modus operandi,
modus vivendi, mold,
monotone, monotony, mood, morale, motif, motion, motions, move, movement, movements, moves, muscle, muscularity, musculature, musical note,
musical quality, musical sound, musicality, mute, mythos, natural, natural color, nature, neutral color, new
philharmonic pitch, note,
observable behavior, octave, order, overtone, paint, painterliness, pallor, parallel octaves,
parget, partial, partial tone, patent
note, pattern, peripeteia, perspective, persuade, philharmonic pitch,
philosophical pitch, phrasing, physique, pigment, pitch, pitch accent, plan, plot, poise, port, pose, posture, practice, praxis, predispose, presence, prime, procedure, proceeding, process, prompt, property, purity, quality, quarter note, quaver, quieten, rebound, recognition, reduce, register, reinvigorate, report, resilience, resiliency, resonance, responding note,
responsiveness,
revitalize, richness, rising action,
routine, run, saturation, scheme, second, secondary plot, semibreve, semiquaver, semitone, sense, set, seventh, shade, shading, shadow, shape, shaped note, sharp, shellac, sinew, sinewiness, sinews, sixteenth note, sixth, sixty-fourth note, skin
color, slant, slop on
paint, smear, snap, social science, soft-pedal,
soften, soften up,
somatotype, sonority, sonorousness, sort, sound, speech tune, spiccato, spirit, spirits, spring, springiness, staccato, stain, stamp, standard pitch, state of
mind, step, stipple, story, streak, stream, stress, stretch, stretchability, stretchiness, stripe, structure, style, subdue, subject, subplot, suchness, suprasegmental, sustained
note, sway, sweetness, swing, switch, system, tack, tactics, technique, temper, temperament, tendency, tenor, tercet, the drill, the general
tendency, the how, the main course, the way of, thematic
development, theme,
thew, thewiness, thews, third, thirty-second note,
timbre, time spirit,
tinct, tincture, tinge, tint, tonality, tone color, tone
down, tone of voice, tone quality, tone up, tonelessness, tonicity, tonus, topic, treatment, trend, triplet, tune, tune up, tunefulness, turn, twist, type, undercoat, undercolor, undertone, unison interval,
value, values, varnish, vein, voce, voice, voice qualifier, voice
quality, voluntary muscle, warm color, wash, way, way of life, way of saying,
ways, wear down, weigh
with, whitewash, whole
note, whole step, wise,
work