Tone - Definition and Overview

The word tone is used in several different fields with different meanings.

Alternate meanings

Look up Tone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary

• Note (Tone) - In music, the abstract concept of note refers both to a unit of fixed pitch which has been given a name, and also to the graphic representation of that pitch in a notation system, and sometimes its duration.
• Pitch (music) - the perceived frequency of a note or sound. See also pure tone.
• Interval (music) - A whole tone is the difference in pitch between notes two semitones apart, also referred to as major second, the ratio 9:8 (just intonation), or in atonal or set theory an interval of 2. A semitone is half a whole tone or a minor second, the ratio 16:15, or the interval 1.
• Timbre - Tone is also used as the quality of sound or timbre of an musical instrument.
• Setting tone Authors set a tone in literature by conveying an emotion or emotions through words.
• Tone (linguistics) refers to discrete pitches or pitch contours used by certain languages to distinguish words from each other.
• In physiology, tone refers to the firmness or strength of a tissue or organ. See muscle tone and toning up, also topics in physical fitness.
• River Tone - a river in England.
• A river in the Kanto region of Japan.
• Tone, a World War II cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy named after the river.

Commonly used in discussing

• phonology - voice
• Dual-tone multi-frequency or tone dialing (as opposed to pulse dialing)