intone
Americanverb (used with object)
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to utter with a particular tone or voice modulation.
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to give tone or variety of tone to; vocalize.
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to utter in a singing voice (the first tones of a section in a liturgical service).
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to recite or chant in monotone.
verb (used without object)
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to speak or recite in a singing voice, especially in monotone; chant.
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Music. to produce a tone, or a particular series of tones, like a scale, especially with the voice.
verb
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to utter, recite, or sing (a chant, prayer, etc) in a monotonous or incantatory tone
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(intr) to speak with a particular or characteristic intonation or tone
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to sing (the opening phrase of a psalm, etc) in plainsong
Other Word Forms
- half-intoned adjective
- intoner noun
- unintoned adjective
Etymology
Origin of intone
1475–85; < Medieval Latin intonāre; replacing earlier entone < Middle French entoner < Medieval Latin; in- 2, tone
Explanation
To intone is to to chant in a flat voice. When you recite a poem you had to memorize in English class, you're likely to intone the lines without much expression. You might intone bad news over the phone, bluntly and unemotionally, and librarians often intone a low command to keep the noise down in the library. People reciting prayers usually intone them as well. In the fourteenth century, the word was entunen, "sing, chant or recite," from a Latin root, intonare, "sing according to tone."
Vocabulary lists containing intone
Number the Stars
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Bless Me, Ultima
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Purple Hibiscus
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Those are the first words of the military Oath of Enlistment—the words that new members of the military, with right hands raised, intone as they join the service.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026
Akbar ceased performing the obligatory five prayers that Muslims must intone every day and began to worship “divine light.”
From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022
We watch them intone “The Lord’s Prayer” and “Hail Mary” in unison.
From New York Times • Aug. 4, 2022
When religious schools compete, he has listened as coaches intone team prayers before and after a game.
From Washington Post • Jul. 26, 2022
Padre de Jesus did not intone vague pronouncements and send me home with a pat on the head.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
