intone

See also: intonē

English

Etymology

From Middle English entune, entone, from Old French entoner, from Medieval Latin intonō.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtoʊn/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtəʊn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊn

Verb

intone (third-person singular simple present intones, present participle intoning, simple past and past participle intoned)

1. (transitive) To give tone or variety of tone to; to vocalize.
2. (transitive) To utter with a musical or prolonged note or tone; to speak or recite with singing voice; to chant.

   to intone the church service

   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     But when the moon rose and the breeze awakened, and the sedges stirred, and the cat’s-paws raced across the moonlit ponds, and the far surf off Wonder Head intoned the hymn of the four winds, the trinity, earth and sky and water, became one thunderous symphony—a harmony of sound and colour silvered to a monochrome by the moon.

3. (intransitive) To utter a tone; utter a protracted sound.

Derived terms

Terms derived from intone

• intonable
• intonate
• intonation
• intonational
• intonationally
• intonator
• intonement
• intoner

References

• “intone”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “intone”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.