tonus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈtɔ.nʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtɔː.nus]^[1]

Forms

tonus m (genitive tonī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos, “stretching, tension, tone”), from Proto-Hellenic *tónos, from Proto-Indo-European *tón-os, from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch”).^[2][1][3] It is also written in the Greek form ⟨tonos⟩.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Vitruvius, of the tension of a rope and of musical pitch.^[2] Köbler dates Vitruvius c. 84–c. 25 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant the stretching or tension of a rope, as in Vitruvius' war engines, then the pitch of a sound, a musical note, and the interval of a tone, and Pliny uses it of a unit of distance in astronomy.^[2][5][4] Pliny also uses it of a degree of light or shade in painting.^[2] Gaffiot adds the accent of a syllable, and Seneca apparently uses it of a peal of thunder, perhaps by confusion with tonō “to thunder”.^[4][2] Isidore defines it as the high pronunciation of the voice, a difference and measure of harmony.^[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant tone, sound, accent.^[7] Medieval Latin used it of a melody, a church tone.^[8] English tone came in the mid-14th century through Old French ton and directly from Latin, and English tune is an unexplained variant of it.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of tension and of pitch.^[2][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny uses it of astronomical distance and of shade in painting.^[2][3]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it apparently of thunder.^[2][3]
• mid-14th century – English tone is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Tension, strain.^[2]
2. The pitch of a sound, (music) a note, a tone.^[2]
3. (astronomy) A unit of distance.^[2]
4. A degree of light or shade.^[2]
5. The accent of a syllable.^[4]
6. A peal of thunder.^[2]
7. (Medieval Latin) A melody, tune.^[8]

Related words

• tonō
• English tone
• English tune

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com