tone

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /təʊn/, US /toʊn/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ton, borrowed from Old French ton and directly from Latin tonus (“a sound, tone, accent”),^[2][3] literally “a stretching”, in Medieval Latin a musical term,^[2][3] from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos, “vocal pitch, accent; a stretching, taut string”),^[2][3] related to teínein “to stretch”,^[2][4] from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch”).^[2] It is related to tune, tonic and tend.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A musical sound or note: before 1300 in Barnhart, about 1325 in the OED (pitch, correct tune) and 1340 (a sound considered for its quality).^[3][6] Etymonline dates it to the mid-14th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

By the early 15th century it was used of any sound.^[2] A manner of speaking, the inflection of the voice to express feeling, is from about 1600,^[2][3] and a style of writing that shows an attitude by 1765.^[2] In physiology, the firmness of healthy tissues is from 1669 (the 1660s in Etymonline).^[3][2] The prevailing character of a place or society is from 1735.^[2] Of colours in paintings it is by 1816, and in photography by 1893.^[2] An electrically produced sound, as on a telephone, is by 1878.^[2][6] The verb, to give a tone to, is from 1811,^[3][2] and to tone down, first in painting (1831), was generalized to “to moderate” by 1847.^[2] Tone-deaf is by 1880 or 1894.^[2][3]

Timeline

• c. 1325 – pitch of a note.^[6]
• 1340 – a musical sound.^[6]
• c. 1600 – a manner of speaking.^[2]
• 1669 – firmness of tissue.^[3]
• 1735 – the character of a place or society.^[2]
• 1811 – verb, to give a tone to.^[3][2]
• 1831 – tone down, in painting.^[2]
• 1878 – an electric tone.^[2][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A quality of the voice that shows a feeling or attitude.
2. The general character or mood of something.
3. A sound of a particular pitch and quality; a musical note.
4. (music) An interval of two semitones; a whole step.
5. A shade of a colour.
6. The firmness of healthy muscles.
7. An electronic sound on a telephone.
8. (linguistics) A pitch that distinguishes words in a language such as Chinese.

Verb

1. To make muscles firmer; with up.
2. tone down: to make something less strong or extreme.
3. To give a particular tone or colour to.

Word family

• toneless
• tonelessly
• tonelessness
• twelve-tone
• halftone
• duotone
• microtone
• middletone

Related words

• atonal
• diatonic
• intonation
• intone
• monotone
• tonal
• tonality
• tone-deaf
• toneme
• tonic
• tonicity
• tune
• tend
• tense

Usage notes

In northern dialect and Scots the tone means “the one”, as opposed to the tother, a misdivision of Middle English “thet on”.^[7][6][8]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)