[təʊn], (Noun)

Definitions:
- a musical or vocal sound with reference to its pitch, quality, and strength
(e.g: they were speaking in hushed tones)

- the general character or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, etc.
(e.g: my friend and I lowered the tone with our oafish ways)

- a basic interval in classical Western music, equal to two semitones and separating, for example, the first and second notes of an ordinary scale (such as C and D, or E and F sharp); a major second
(e.g: the B flat clarinet's part is written one tone higher than the pitch required)

- the particular quality of brightness, deepness, or hue of a shade of a colour
(e.g: stained glass in vivid tones of red and blue)

- (in some languages, such as Chinese) a particular pitch pattern on a syllable used to make semantic distinctions

- the normal level of firmness or slight contraction in a resting muscle
(e.g: a reduction of muscle tone)


Phrases:

Origin:
Middle English: from Old French ton, from Latin tonus, from Greek tonos ‘tension, tone’, from teinein ‘to stretch’

[təʊn], (Verb)

Definitions:
- give greater strength or firmness to (the body or a muscle)
(e.g: push-ups help tone your abs)

- give (a monochrome picture) an altered colour in finishing by means of a chemical solution
(e.g: it's a good idea to sepia tone the whole print first)


Phrases:

Origin:
Middle English: from Old French ton, from Latin tonus, from Greek tonos ‘tension, tone’, from teinein ‘to stretch’