tone

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

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

   The Beijing dialect uses four tones.

2. 2
   noun

   in music, the distinctive property of a complex sound such as a voice, noise or musical sound

   Your guitar has wicked tone.

3. 3
   noun

   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

4. 4
   noun

   a steady sound without overtones

   They tested your hearing with pure tones of different frequencies.

5. 5
   noun

   the quality of a person's voice

   They began in a conversational tone.

6. 6
   verb

   give a healthy elasticity to

   Let's tone our muscles

7. 7
   verb

   change to a color image

   tone a photographic image

8. 8
   verb

   change the color or tone of

   tone a negative

Etymology

From Middle English ton, tone, from Latin tonus (“sound, tone”) (possibly through Old French ton), from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos, “strain, tension, pitch”), from τείνω (teínō, “to stretch”). Doublet of tune, ton, tonos, and tonus.