Etymologically
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tone

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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
  • 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)