Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To intone.
- transitive verb To utter with a particular tone of voice.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To thunder; make a rumbling noise.
- To intone.
- To sound the tones of the musical scale; practise solmization.
- To pronounce with a tone; intone; utter with a sonant vibration of the vocal cords.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb obsolete To thunder.
- intransitive verb (Mus.) To sound the tones of the musical scale; to practice the sol-fa.
- intransitive verb To modulate the voice in a musical, sonorous, and measured manner, as in reading the liturgy; to intone.
- transitive verb To utter in a musical or sonorous manner; to chant.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To
intone ; toutter .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb recite with musical intonation; recite as a chant or a psalm
- verb speak carefully, as with rising and falling pitch or in a particular tone
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Since there is no relationship to English except for modern words, some effort is required to pronounce and intonate correctly.
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"Ole Billie Bawlie" found as Number 4 was a little song which was used to deride men who had little ability musically to intonate "calls" and
Negro Folk Rhymes Wise and Otherwise: With a Study Thomas Washington Talley
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Of a truth, she had sworn never to actually speak again, but now it occurred to her that perhaps she might at least intonate.
Si'Wren of the Patriarchs Roland Jon Cheney
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Madame Wang was sitting in Mrs. Hsüeh's apartments, whither she had just crossed, when she perceived Chia Huan come back from school, and she bade him transcribe incantations out of the Chin Kang Canon and intonate them.
Hung Lou Meng, Book II Or, the Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel in Two Books Xueqin Cao
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The motor ideas with which the speech movement has to start are cut off and the subject yields passively to the fate that he cannot intonate his voice.
Psychotherapy Hugo M��nsterberg 1889
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When the voice-producer has learned to intonate surely, when the voice is "placed," and the secrets of the registers are known to him, he will do well to experiment a little, cautiously, with his own resonance-chambers, so as to widen his practical knowledge of the principles underlying the modification of tones.
Voice Production in Singing and Speaking Based on Scientific Principles (Fourth Edition, Revised and Enlarged) Wesley Mills 1881
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In order to secure this result, the vocalist or speaker must begin by taking breath through the mouth, as we have already insisted, and at once, before there is time for any stiffening of parts, commence to intonate -- _i. e._, as soon as enough air has been inhaled for the purpose intended.
Voice Production in Singing and Speaking Based on Scientific Principles (Fourth Edition, Revised and Enlarged) Wesley Mills 1881
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Why did he not take up his last words, "Live in peace," and intonate the blessing?
An Obscure Apostle A Dramatic Story Eliza Orzeszkowa 1876
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And when the favoured one, chosen for the miracle, returns to her village, all the inhabitants crowd to meet her, whilst the bells peal merrily; and when she is seen springing lightly from the vehicle which has brought her home, shouts and sobs of joy burst forth and all intonate the _Magnificat_: Glory to the Blessed Virgin!
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete Lourdes, Rome and Paris ��mile Zola 1871
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Toury and Les Aubrais had been left behind, when, at Beaugency, they at last ceased their chat, on hearing Sister Hyacinthe clap her hands and intonate in her fresh, sonorous voice:
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete Lourdes, Rome and Paris ��mile Zola 1871
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