OVERTONE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does overtone mean? 

• OVERTONE (noun)
  The noun OVERTONE has 2 senses:

1. (usually plural) an ulterior implicit meaning or quality

2. a harmonic with a frequency that is a multiple of the fundamental frequency

  Familiarity information: OVERTONE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OVERTONE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(usually plural) an ulterior implicit meaning or quality

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

overtones of despair

Hypernyms ("overtone" is a kind of...):

import; meaning; significance; signification (the message that is intended or expressed or signified)

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A harmonic with a frequency that is a multiple of the fundamental frequency

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

overtone; partial; partial tone

Hypernyms ("overtone" is a kind of...):

harmonic (a tone that is a component of a complex sound)

 Context examples 

The coat comes in shades of brown, red or tan ranging from a dead-grass-straw color to a deep dark brown with red overtones.

(Chesapeake Bay Retriever, NCI Thesaurus)

Her appreciation of the ridiculous was keen, and in all things she unerringly saw and felt, where it existed, the touch of sham, the overshading, the overtone.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)