tone
/ˈtoʊn/noun, verb, pronoun
tone is spelled T-O-N-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 31 times per million words in written English, the 3,052nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Tone, the name). People search “mood vs tone” about 12,100 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, tone means “A specific pitch” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tone is tones.
How many letters and syllables are in tone?
| Letters | 4: T-O-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 31 times per million words; the 3,052nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is tone?
Tone appears 31 times per million words in written English, the 3,052nd most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Tone, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tone?
- UK /ˈtəʊn/
- UK [ˈtʰəʊ̯n]
- US /ˈtoʊn/
Tone has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-tone.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with tone
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with tone?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tone from its last stressed vowel (/oʊn/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: note.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of tone
- tones plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- toning participle, present
- toned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tone mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A specific pitch.
- 2
(in the diatonic scale) An interval of a major second.
- 3
(in a Gregorian chant) A recitational melody.
- 4
The character of a sound, especially the timbre of an instrument or voice.
- 5
The pitch of a word's sound that distinguishes a difference in meaning, as for example in Chinese.
- 6
datedA whining style of speaking; a kind of mournful or artificial strain of voice; an affected speaking with a measured rhythm and a regular rise and fall of the voice.
Children often read with a tone.
- 7
The manner in which speech or writing is expressed, especially the aspects of diction (word choice), connotation, emotiveness, and register.
- 8
obsoleteState of mind; temper; mood.
verb
- 1
to give a particular tone to
- 2
to change the colour of
- 3
to make (something) firmer
- 4
to utter with an affected tone.
pronoun
- 1
the one (of two)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tone in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tone come from?
From Middle English ton, tone, from Latin tonus (“sound, tone”) (possibly through Old French ton), from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos, “strain, tension, pitch”), from τείνω (teínō, “to stretch”). Doublet of tune, ton, tonos, and tonus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).