Definition of tone

• n. - Sound, or the character of a sound, or a sound considered as of this or that character; as, a low, high, loud, grave, acute, sweet, or harsh tone.
• n. - Accent, or inflection or modulation of the voice, as adapted to express emotion or passion.
• n. - A whining style of speaking; a kind of mournful or artificial strain of voice; an affected speaking with a measured rhythm ahd a regular rise and fall of the voice; as, children often read with a tone.
• n. - A sound considered as to pitch; as, the seven tones of the octave; she has good high tones.
• n. - The larger kind of interval between contiguous sounds in the diatonic scale, the smaller being called a semitone as, a whole tone too flat; raise it a tone.
• n. - The peculiar quality of sound in any voice or instrument; as, a rich tone, a reedy tone.
• n. - A mode or tune or plain chant; as, the Gregorian tones.
• n. - That state of a body, or of any of its organs or parts, in which the animal functions are healthy and performed with due vigor.
• n. - Tonicity; as, arterial tone.
• n. - State of mind; temper; mood.
• n. - Tenor; character; spirit; drift; as, the tone of his remarks was commendatory.
• n. - General or prevailing character or style, as of morals, manners, or sentiment, in reference to a scale of high and low; as, a low tone of morals; a tone of elevated sentiment; a courtly tone of manners.
• n. - The general effect of a picture produced by the combination of light and shade, together with color in the case of a painting; -- commonly used in a favorable sense; as, this picture has tone.
• v. t. - To utter with an affected tone.
• v. t. - To give tone, or a particular tone, to; to tune. See Tune, v. t.
• v. t. - To bring, as a print, to a certain required shade of color, as by chemical treatment.