tone, toone

[Fr. ton a sound, a tune, from Lat. tonum, acc us. of tonus a sound, from Greek tonos a thing stretched, a rope, sinew, note, tone, from the sound of a stretched string; teinō to stretch; Sp. to no, ton; Port. tom; Ger. & Sw.ton; Dan. tone; Dut. toom; Ital. tuono, to no.] IMG:content-1203.png:[blocks in formation] 3. An affected or whining style of intonation in speaking or reading; a mournful or artificial mode of utterance; a whine, a drawl, a singsong. "Every appearance of singsong and tone must be carefully guarded against."- Blair Rhetoric, lect. xxxiii. 4. Tenor, character, spirit, strain; specifically the general or prevailing character or style, as of morals, manners, sentiments, or the like; as, The tone of society was very low; The tone of his letter was friendly. 5. Disposition, inclination, temper. "I cannot deny such a precept is wise; But retirement accords with the tone of my mind." Byron: To the Rev. J. T. Becher 6. State or temper of mind; disposition, mood. "Drag the mind down, by perpetual interruptions from a philosophical tone , or temper, to the drudgery of private and public busine ." -Bolingbroke: Letter to Pope . 7. The state of a body in which the animal func tions are healthy and performed with due vigor; the state in which all the parts and organs are well strung or in due tension; strength and activity of the organs. "The melancholic fiend (that worst despair Of physic) hence the rust-complexion'd man Pursues, whose blood is dry, whose fibers gain Too stretch'd a tone." -Armstrong: On Health, i. II. Technically: 1. Music: (1) A sound; as, high tone , low tone, tone of an instrument. (2) Quality of a sound (Fr. timbre ; Ger. klang ); as, sweet tone , harsh tone . Any ordinary sound is compound, being made up of a combination of sounds called partial-tones; the sound which the ear recognizes and names is called the primary, or first partial; those combined with it, upper partials. It is found by experiment that the charac ter or quality of tone of any given sound is dependent on the sort of partial-tones which constitute it. It is difficult to produce a simple sound, i . e., a sound without upper partials, and its character is poor and insipid. (3) A chant; as, a Greg or i an tone . (4) A mode or scale; as church- tones , the ancient ecclesiastical modes. (5) The interval consisting of two mean semitones in equal temperament. But in just intonation there are two kinds of tone, the major tone (9:8) and the minor tone (10:9). 2. Paint .: The prevailing color of a picture or its general effect, denominated dull tone, bright tone, . It depends first, upon the right relation of objects in shadow to the principal light; secondly, upon the quality of color, by which it is felt to owe part of its brightne from the hue of the light upon it. * All in a tone: Unanimous. " All were in a tone."-Richardson: Sir C. Grand is on, iii. 381.