entry
intonation
/ˌɪntəˈneɪʃən/Rise and fall of pitch in speech or music
From Latin intonō (I intone).
from Medieval Latin intonatio
from French intonation (14c.)
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Medieval Latin intonatio
from French intonation (14c.)
+1 more sourcePicture a singer stepping forward in a medieval church and launching the first notes before the congregation joins in: that opening gesture was an intonation. English borrowed the term through French intonation from Medieval Latin intonatio, built on intonare, “to intone,” plus the action-forming suffix -tiō. The word first entered English in the 1610s with a strongly musical sense, but by 1791 it had moved into ordinary speech, where pitch could signal a question, surprise, boredom, or sarcasm without changing a single consonant. Its close cousin inflection comes from Latin inflectere, “to bend,” while modulation comes from Latin modulus, “a small measure”—one imagines the voice bending and measuring its way through a sentence. In 1788, intonation could mean the act of intoning; today, the voice itself may deliver the punchline before the words do.
The Story
Picture a singer stepping forward in a medieval church and launching the first notes before the congregation joins in: that opening gesture was an intonation. English borrowed the term through French intonation from Medieval Latin intonatio, built on intonare, “to intone,” plus the action-forming suffix -tiō. The word first entered English in the 1610s with a strongly musical sense, but by 1791 it had moved into ordinary speech, where pitch could signal a question, surprise, boredom, or sarcasm without changing a single consonant. Its close cousin inflection comes from Latin inflectere, “to bend,” while modulation comes from Latin modulus, “a small measure”—one imagines the voice bending and measuring its way through a sentence. In 1788, intonation could mean the act of intoning; today, the voice itself may deliver the punchline before the words do.
Modern Usage
Informal use for accurate pitch or the sing-song qualities conveying attitude in speech
Kin & Kindred
From 'intonō'·I intone; I sound or thunder
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From '-tiō'·Action, process, or result
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Urban Dictionary
Wiktionary