INTONATION • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Intonation

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/ɪntənˈeɪʃən/ Listen

noun

Intonation n. A thundering; thunder. (Obs.)

Intonation n.

(Mus.)

(a)

The act of sounding the tones of the musical scale.

(b)

Singing or playing in good tune or otherwise; as, her intonation was false.

(c)

Reciting in a musical prolonged tone; intonating, or singing of the opening phrase of a plain-chant, psalm, or canticle by a single voice, as of a priest. See Intone, v. t.

The manner of speaking, especially the placement of emphasis, the cadence, and the rise and fall of the pitch of the voice while speaking.

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Etymology of 'Intonation'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Intonation" Quotes from Famous Books

... with my bayonet," he answered with the foolish intonation peculiar to soldiers; "and if he made off, I ought to shoot him," he added, obviously proud of knowing what he must do if his ...

— The Kingdom of God is within you • Leo Tolstoy

... friend," returned Aramis, with the same intonation on the word friend that he had applied to it the first time—"I mean that if there has been any confusion, scandal, and even effort in the substitution of the prisoner for the king, I ...

— The Man in the Iron Mask • Alexandre Dumas, Pere

... and musical, with a slight sing-song in it, and a faint SOUPCON of foreign intonation in the pronunciation ...

— The Scarlet Pimpernel • Baroness Orczy

... his courtesies only by carrying his hand to his heart and then to his forehead, in the recognized Mussulman manner. He did not speak one word of French, and yet, when Carmen passed, he said "Beautiful!" with a guttural intonation. ...

— The Son of Monte Cristo • Jules Lermina

... naturally. She did so evidently feeling there was a charm in the exaggerated, honeyed modulation of the syllables. It was, of course, only a bad, underbred habit that showed bad education and a false idea of good manners. And yet this intonation and manner of speaking impressed Alyosha as almost incredibly incongruous with the childishly simple and happy expression of her face, the soft, babyish joy in her eyes. Katerina Ivanovna at once made her sit down in an arm-chair facing Alyosha, and ecstatically kissed ...

— The Brothers Karamazov • Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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