intone

American  

[in-tohn] / ɪnˈtoʊn /

verb (used with object)

intoned, intoning

1. to utter with a particular tone or voice modulation.

2. to give tone or variety of tone to; vocalize.

3. to utter in a singing voice (the first tones of a section in a liturgical service).

4. to recite or chant in monotone.

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verb (used without object)

intoned, intoning

1. to speak or recite in a singing voice, especially in monotone; chant.

2. Music. to produce a tone, or a particular series of tones, like a scale, especially with the voice.

intone British  

/ ɪnˈtəʊn /

verb

1. to utter, recite, or sing (a chant, prayer, etc) in a monotonous or incantatory tone

2. (intr) to speak with a particular or characteristic intonation or tone

3. to sing (the opening phrase of a psalm, etc) in plainsong

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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

Example Sentences

A singer intones a haunting melody—“It’s been a long time and still we are not free.”

From The Wall Street Journal

“It is as if the demands of his spirit were too extreme for flesh and blood,” Ms. Marcus intones.

From The Wall Street Journal

If You're Glad I'll Be Frank imagined the speaking clock as a real woman speaking live, her internal monologue utterly at odds with the deadening repetitiveness of endlessly intoning "at the third stroke..."

From BBC

“Alas, poor spud!” she had just done intoning, Hamlet-like, to the withered potato, which was now furry with mold.

From Literature

“In honor of the great orations of antiquity,” Alexander intoned.

From Literature

Related Words

• articulate
• chant
• croon
• recite
• sing