Where does “intone” come from?
Intone comes from Old French entoner, derived from Latin intonare, meaning to thunder or sound forth.
intone (English): To give tone or variety of tone to; to vocalize;...
Definitions
- To give tone or variety of tone to; to vocalize;...
Ancestry of “intone”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | entoner | — |
| 2 | Medieval Latin | intonō | — |
| 3 | Latin | tonus | The stretching or straining of a rope; A strain;... |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | τόνος | rope, cord; chord; tone, note |
| 5 | Proto-Hellenic | tónos | rope, cord; tension |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | tónos | something stretched; chord, fiber, string |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ten- | to stretch, to extend |