Meaning

3 senses

  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

    recite with musical intonation; recite as a chant or a psalm

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

Examples

1 sentences

  1. When the king came in, the choir began intoning praises.

    deAls der König eintrat, stimmte der Chor Lobpreisungen an.

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Origin

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

From Middle English entune, entone, from Old French entoner, from Medieval Latin intonō, from in- (inchoative prefix) + tonus (“pitch, tone”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix); doublet of intonate. Cognate with French entonner, Italian intonare.

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Forms

intones, intoning, intoned, intoned
Base formintone · to intone
3rd person singularintones
Present participleintoning
Past simpleintoned
Past participleintoned

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theyintone
he, she, itintones

Past simpleLesson

all personsintoned

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave intoned
he, she, ithas intoned

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill intone

Synonyms

5 synonyms
singA1
Close in meaning
  • recite with musical intonation; recite as a chant or a psalm:chantintonatecantillate
  • speak carefully, as with rising and falling pitch or in a particular tone:intonate
  • utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically:tonechant

Word family

11 related words
Relatedintonation
Derivedintonableintonateintonationalintonationallyintonatorintonementintonerintoninglypreintoneunintoned

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
intoleranceintolerantintonationintoxicateintoxication
intone — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto