overtone
/ˈoʊvɚtoʊn/
Detailed reference entry for the English word "overtone", 8-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "overtone" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "overtone" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
The verdict
“overtone” is an uncommon English word, ranked #68,509 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #68,509
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) — A tone whose frequency is an integer multiple of another; a member of the harmonic series.
Compare similar words
See how overtone compares against similar English words.
Browse all word comparisons →| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | overtone |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈoʊvɚtoʊn/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #68,509 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “overtone” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for overtone is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈoʊvɚtoʊn/. Corpus data places it at rank #68,509 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for overtone in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From over- + tone, calque of German Oberton. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is overtone, spelled O-V-E-R-T-O-N-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1A tone whose frequency is an integer multiple of another; a member of the harmonic series.
- 2An implicit message (in a film, book, verbal discussion, or similar) perceived as overwhelming the explicit message.
- 3An implicit message (in a film, book, verbal discussion, or similar) perceived subtly alongside, but not overwhelming, the explicit message.
Etymology
From over- + tone, calque of German Oberton.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Cite this page
Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:
PlainSpell, “overtone, English word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/en/word/overtone
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "overtone"?
What does "overtone" mean?
How do you pronounce "overtone"?
What is the origin of the word "overtone"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “overtone”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-V-E-R-T-O-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈoʊvɚtoʊn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter O in our English index: