tonus

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the normal continuous tension or readiness of living muscles, arteries, or other tissue

   The frightened animal showed increased tonus in its skeletal muscles.

2. 2
   noun

   a mode or tonal system in Gregorian chant

   The melody follows the traditional tonus assigned to the text.

Common collocations

• muscular tonus Adjective + noun

Borrowed from Latin tonus ("tension, tone"), from Ancient Greek tonos ("stretching, pitch"). It is a learned doublet of tone and preserves specialized physiological and musical uses.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images