monotone
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monotone
- /ˈmɒn.ə.təʊn/ UK
- /ˈmɑ.nə.toʊn/ US, dialectal
- /ˈmɒn.ə.toʊn/ Canada, dialectal
- /ˈmɔn.ə.təʉn/ Australia
- /ˈmɒn.ə.tɐʉn/ New Zealand
- [ˈmɔ̟n.ə.tɐʉn] New Zealand
Where it comes from
From the post-Classical Latin monotonus (“unvarying in tone”) or its etymon the Ancient Greek μονότονος (monótonos, “steady”, “unwavering”); compare cognate adjectives, namely the French monotone, the German monoton, the Italian monotono, and the Spanish monótono, as well as the slightly earlier English noun monotony and adjective monotonical.
adjective more monotone · most monotone
- Having a single unvaried pitch. The prominence of the syllables is more monotone than in English, the intonation of the latter having a larger variation of stressed and unstressed syllables.
- Of a function: that is always nonincreasing or nondecreasing on an interval. The function f(x)#58;#61;x³ is monotone on #92;R, while g(x)#58;#61;x² is not.
- Synonym of monochrome.
noun monotones
- A single unvaried tone of speech or a sound. When Tima felt like her parents were treating her like a servant, she would speak in monotone and act as though she were a robot.
- A piece of writing in one strain throughout.
verb monotones · monotoning · monotoned
- To speak in a monotone.
