intonation
French, noun/ɛ̃.tɔ.na.sjɔ̃/
intonation is spelled I-N-T-O-N-A-T-I-O-N (10 letters) and appears about once in every 1 million words in written French, the 32,719th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Intonation is a French feminine noun meaning “intonation (all senses)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Manière d’attaquer un son, un air”.
What does intonation mean in English?
noun
- 1
feminineintonation (all senses)
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Manière d’attaquer un son, un air. 2. Action de mettre un chant sur le ton dans lequel il doit être, en parlant du plain-chant. 3. Justesse d’une note chantée ou jouée. 4. Ton que l’on prend en parlant ou en lisant.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of intonation
- intonations plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce intonation?
- /ɛ̃.tɔ.na.sjɔ̃/
- \ɛ̃.tɔ.na.sjɔ̃\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to intonation
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is intonation in French?
intonation appears about once in every 1 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).