intone

Definition

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

Etymology

From Middle English entune, entone, from Old French entoner, from Medieval Latin intonō, from in- (inchoative prefix) + tonus (“pitch, tone”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix); doublet of intonate. Cognate with French entonner, Italian intonare.

Example Sentences

• "to intone the church service"
• "But when the moon rose and the breeze awakened, and the sedges stirred, and the cat’s-paws raced across the moonlit ponds, and the far surf off Wonder Head intoned the hymn of the four winds, the trinity, earth and sky and water, became one thunderous symphony—a harmony of sound and colour silvered to a monochrome by the moon."