tun1 (tun)

[Also ton (now used only in the sense of a measure); early mod. E. tunne, tonne, As who so filled a tonne of a fre he ryuer, And went forth with that water to woke with [add water to] The mese. Piers Plowman (B), xv. 331. Take four and twenty bucks and ewes, And ten tun of the wine. Childe Vyet (Child's Ballads, II. 75). The tallow to be saponified is placed in a large, slightly conical, wooden tun , which is made of oak or cedar, and is tightly bound with iron hoops. W. L. Carpenter , Soap and Candles, p. 254. 2. Any ve el; a jar. Wel ofter of the welle than of the tonne She drank. Chaucer, Clerk's Tale, 1. 159. 3. In a brewery, the fermenting-vat or -tank. E. H. Knight.-4. A measure of capacity, equal by old statutes to 252 wine-gallons. There was a local tun of beer in London of 2 butts, and a customary tun of sweet oil was 236 gallons, and of syrup 3 barrels. As all measures of capacity are regarded by metrologists as having been defined first by weight, some have supposed the tun was originally a short ton weight of water. 5. In conch., a shell of the genus Dolium or family Doliidæ; a tun-shell.-6. The upper The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: The Century dictionary The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: The Century dictionary IMG:content-1056.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-1057.png:[blocks in formation] How often have I led thy sportive choir, With tunele pipe, beside the murmuring Loire! Goldsmith , Traveller, 1. 244. ing on an instrument; capacity for producing tones in correct intonation; the proper con- struct i on or adjustment of a musical instru- 2. Not employed in or not capable of making ment with reference to such intonation; mu- tual adaptation of voices or instruments in pitch and temperament. IMG:content-1058.png:[blocks in formation] 7. In phren., one of the perceptive faculties, of which the organ is said to be situated above the external angle of the orbit of the eye, as high as the middle of the forehead, on each side of the temporal ridge. This faculty is claimed to give the perception of melody or harmony. See phrenology . - In tune, in correct or properly ad- justed intonation; harmonious. - Out of tune, in inc or- rect or improperly adjusted intonation; inharmonious. - To change one's tune, to alter one's manner and way of talking. O gin I live and bruik my life, I'll gar ye change your tune . Wedding of Robin Hood and Little John (Child's Ballads, [V. 184). To sing another tune. See sing . - To the tune of, to the sum or amount of. [Colloq.] God ringing the changes on all accidents, and making them tunable to His glory. Fuller , Holy State, IV. xiii. 12. 2. Harmonious; musical; tuneful. (Rare.] More tuneable than lark to shepherd's ear. Shak., M. N. D., i. 1. 184. tunablene (tū'na-bl-nes), n. The state or quality of being tunable; harmony; melodious pitch or temperament. See tuning. Will Hazard has got the hipps, having lost to the tune of five hundr'd pound, tho' he understands play very well, no body better. Swift , Tatler, No. 230. tune (tūn), v.; pret. and pp. tuned , ppr. tuning . [ Tune your harps, And change the tunes of your enticing tongue To penitential prayers. IMG:content-1059.png:[blocks in formation] When in hand my tunele e harp I take, Then doe I more augment my foes despight. Spenser , Sonnets, xliv. 3. Not expre ed rhythmically or musically; silent; without voice or utterance. On thy voicele shore The heroic lay is tunele now; The heroic bosom beats no more! Our mournful Philomel, That rarest tuner . tun-greatt (tun'grat), a. [ME. tonne greet ; tun + great . Having a circumference of the size of a tun. Every piler, the temple to sustene, Was tonne - greet , of iren bright and shene. To that high-sounding Lyre I tune my Strains. Congreve, Pindaric Odes, i. In peace, Love tunes the shepherd's reed. Scott , L. of L. M., iii. 2. 5. To put into a state proper for any purpose, or adapted to produce a particular effect. Come, let me tune you; glaze not thus your eyes With self-love of a vow'd virginity. 6. To bring into uniformity or harmony. Elizabeth might silence or tune the pulpits; but it was impo ible for her to silence or tune the great preachers of justice, and mercy, and truth. J. R. Green, Short Hist. Eng., p. 456. II. in trans. 1. To give forth musical sound. Tuning to the water's fall, 2. To accord with some correct or given stan- dard of pitch or temperament.-3. To utter in- articulate musical sounds with the voice; sing without using words; hum a tune. Imp . Dict. [Rare.]- To tune up, to begin to sing or play: as, tuned (tūnd), a. [ tuned bell. tuneful (tün'fül), a. [ tuneful voice was heard from high. Fletcher (and another ), Love's Cure, iii. 3. Whose senses in so evil consort their stepdame Nature lays That ravishing delight in them most sweet tunes doth not raise. Sir P. Sidney (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 570). (b) Producing sweet sounds; musical. IMG:content-1060.png:[blocks in formation] acter of being tuneful. tunele (tun'les), a. [ tune + -le .] 1. Un- musical; inharmonious. IMG:content-1061.png:[blocks in formation] tungstous