intonate
/ˈɪntəʊneɪt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To intone or recite (words), especially emphatically or in a chanting manner.
Dated; Intransitive verb; Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "[…] we have no doubt whatever that the recitation of verse on the stage was of an artificial and semi-musical character. It was undoubtedly much more sustained and intonated with a slow and measured stateliness, which, whilst harmonizing it with the other circumstances of solemnity in Greek tragedy, would bring it nearer to music."
- "His manner on the platform and his speech were those of a drony, sing-song, intonating Episcopal minister, devoid of life and spirit."
- "With actorlike polish he intonated through the third page […]"
- "“Is this Mr. O’Connor’s chamber?” inquired a voice of peculiar richness, intonated not unpleasingly with a certain melodious modification of the brogue […]"
- "Miss Bremer talked plentifully in her strange manner—good English enough for a foreigner, but so oddly intonated and accented, that it is impossible to be sure of more than one word in ten."
- "[…] an older man, attired in gray, with hair to match, was busily engaged at one end of the room packing a quantity of small cases into a larger one, and continuing to hold converse with himself by means of the monosyllable “yes,” differently intonated, at intervals of half-a-minute, “y-e-s—y-e-s.”"
Etymology
First attested in 1795; borrowed from Medieval Latin intonātus, perfect passive participle of intonō (“to vocalize, chant”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from in- (inchoative prefix) + tonus (“pitch, tone”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix); doublet of intone. Cognate with French entonner, Italian intonare.
Origin
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ˈɪntəʊneɪt/