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PlainSpell

tune

/tjuːn/noun, interjection, verb

tune is spelled T-U-N-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 19 times per million words in written English, the 4,521st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tune means “A melody” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tune is tunes.

How many letters and syllables are in tune?

Letters4: T-U-N-E
Syllables1
In writing19 times per million words; the 4,521st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search

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).

How common is tune?

Tune appears 19 times per million words in written English, the 4,521st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce tune?

  • /tjuːn/
  • /tʃuːn/
  • /tuːn/

Tune has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-tune.ogg, En-us-tune.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with tune

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

toon vs tune0 B

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of tune

  • tunes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • chune
  • toon
  • tuning participle, present
  • tuned participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does tune mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A melody.

    Eric played a catchy tune on his acoustic guitar and Alyssa played the drums.

  2. 2

    A song, or short musical composition.

  3. 3

    informalThe act of tuning or maintenance.

    Your engine needs a good tune.

  4. 4

    The state or condition of being correctly tuned.

    Your engine is now in tune.

  5. 5

    obsoleteTemper; frame of mind.

  6. 6

    obsoleteA sound; a note; a tone.

  7. 7

    obsoleteOrder; harmony; concord.

interjection

  1. 1

    UKslangUsed to show appreciation or approval of a song.

    You heard the new Rizzle Kicks song? – Tune!

verb

  1. 1

    To adjust (a musical instrument) so that it produces the correct pitches.

    to tune a piano or a violin

  2. 2

    To adjust or modify (especially a mechanical or electrical device) so that it functions optimally.

    Tuning the engine gave me an extra twenty horsepower.

  3. 3

    To adjust the frequency of a transmitter or receiver, such as on a radio or TV transmitter or receiver, so as to send or receive an electromagnetic signal through a desired frequency band or channel.

    Tune to Channel 6 for all your favourite daytime shows.

  4. 4

    Of faculties, senses, etc.: to adapt to or direct towards a particular target.

    My ears were tuned to the sounds of the forest.

  5. 5

    To make more precise, intense, or effective; to put into a proper state or disposition.

  6. 6

    slangTo produce a particular quality of voice by adjusting singing voice synthesis software.

  7. 7

    To adjust the frequency of a transmitter or receiver, such as on a radio or TV transmitter or receiver, so as to send or receive an electromagnetic signal through a desired frequency band or channel.

  8. 8

    To attune; to adapt in style of music; to make harmonious.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Tune in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmélodie, air (melody), accorder (to adjust a musical instrument), syntoniser (to adjust the frequency on a radio or TV set…)
GermanMelodie (melody), stimmen (to adjust a musical instrument)
Portuguesemelodia (melody), afinar (to adjust a musical instrument), sintonizar (to adjust the frequency on a radio or TV set…), tunar (informal: act of tuning), ajustar (to adjust (e.g. a mechanical or electrical…)
Spanishmelodía (melody), afinar (to adjust a musical instrument), sintonizar (to adjust the frequency on a radio or TV set…), tunear (to adjust (e.g. a mechanical or electrical…), tonada (song, short musical composition), temazo (Translations)

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 tune come from?

From Middle English tune, an unexplained variant of tone, from Old French ton, from Latin tonus, from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos, “a tone”). Doublet of tone, ton, and tonus.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after tune