INTONE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does intone mean? 

• INTONE (verb)
  The verb INTONE has 3 senses:

1. utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically

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

3. speak carefully, as with rising and falling pitch or in a particular tone

  Familiarity information: INTONE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INTONE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they intone    ... he / she / it intones   
Past simple: intoned   
Past participle: intoned   
-ing form: intoning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

chant; intone; tone

Context example:

The students chanted the same slogan over and over again

Hypernyms (to "intone" is one way to...):

mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

intonation (the act of singing in a monotonous tone)

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

cantillate; chant; intonate; intone

Context example:

The rabbi chanted a prayer

Hypernyms (to "intone" is one way to...):

sing (produce tones with the voice)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "intone"):

singsong (speak, chant, or declaim in a singsong)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They will intone the duet

Derivation:

intonation (the production of musical tones (by voice or instrument); especially the exactitude of the pitch relations)

intonation (the act of singing in a monotonous tone)

intonation (singing by a soloist of the opening piece of plainsong)

intonation (rise and fall of the voice pitch)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Speak carefully, as with rising and falling pitch or in a particular tone

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

intonate; intone

Context example:

please intonate with sadness

Hypernyms (to "intone" is one way to...):

judge; label; pronounce (pronounce judgment on)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

intonation (rise and fall of the voice pitch)

 Context examples 

He intoned a long whining rhyme in the French tongue, and at the end of every line he raised a thick cord, all jagged with pellets of lead, and smote his companion across the shoulders until the blood spurted again.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)