tone

• n. 語氣；色調；音調；音色
• vt. 增強；用某種調子說
• vi. 顏色調和；呈現悅目色調
• n. (Tone)人名；(羅、塞、乍)托內；(英)托恩

來自拉丁語 tonus,聲音，單調，來自希臘語 teinein,延伸，延展，來自 PIE*ten,延伸，延展， 詞源同 tenure,extend,tune.引申諸相關詞義，並用於指皮膚柔韌性等。

tone

tone: [14] English acquired tone via Old French ton and Latin tonus from Greek tónos ‘stretching, tension’, hence ‘sound’. This in turn went back to the Indo-European base *ton-, *ten- ‘stretch’, which also produced English tend, tense, thin, etc. The semantic transference from ‘tension’ to ‘sound’ may have arisen from the notion of tightening the strings of a musical instrument, but it could also be due to association with another Indo-European base *ton-, meaning ‘resound’ (source of English thunder). The derivative tonic [17] comes ultimately from Greek tonikós. Tune is an unexplained variant of tone.
=> tend, tense, tenuous, thin, tune

tone (n.)

mid-14c., "musical sound or note," from Old French ton "musical sound, speech, words" (13c.) and directly from Latin tonus "a sound, tone, accent," literally "stretching" (in Medieval Latin, a term peculiar to music), from Greek tonos "vocal pitch, raising of voice, accent, key in music," originally "a stretching, tightening, taut string," related to teinein "to stretch" (see tenet). Sense of "manner of speaking" is from c. 1600. First reference to firmness of body is from 1660s. As "prevailing state of manners" from 1735; as "style in speaking or writing which reveals attitude" from 1765. Tone-deaf is from 1880; tone-poem from 1845.

tone (v.)

"to impart tone to," 1811, from tone (n.). Related: Toned; toning. To tone (something) down originally was in painting (1831); general sense of "reduce, moderate" is by 1847.

1. "I know you," he said flatly, matter-of-fact, neutral in tone.

“我認識你。”他平淡地說道，就事論事，不帶任何感情。

來自柯林斯例句

2. Each brick also varies slightly in tone, texture and size.

每塊磚在色調、質地與大小上也都略有不同。

來自柯林斯例句

3. Helen's choice of lipstick was a good match for her skin-tone.

海倫選擇的唇膏很適合她的膚色。

來自柯林斯例句

4. The violence in her tone gave Alistair a shock.

她語氣之強烈令阿利斯泰爾深感震驚。

來自柯林斯例句

5. The spokesman said the tone of the letter was very friendly.

發言人說信函的語氣非常友好。

來自柯林斯例句